LongeviQuest is delighted to share that Maria Helena Aguiar, the oldest living nun in Portugal, celebrated her 110th birthday. She is a Portuguese supercentenarian who is currently the second-oldest living person in the country.  

Maria Helene Aguiar was born on 2 November 1913 in Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe. When she was three years old, she came to Portugal to live with a grandmother and an aunt in Braga. Three years later, she came to live in Lisbon with her parents. She then proceeded to enter the conservatory at age 15 or 16.

Maria Helena Aguiar at 110
Maria Helena Aguiar at 110

Maria Helena was a teacher at a school run by the Doroteias sisters in Viseu and then in Vila do Conde. Later on, she transferred to Porto to teach piano, an instrument she started playing when she was three years old, at the Colégio Nossa Senhora da Paz.  

Maria Helena Aguiar is currently residing at Colégio Nossa Senhora da Paz in Porto, Portugal.  

LongeviQuest sends our warmest regards to Sister Maria Helena in celebration of her 110th birthday.

LongeviQuest is saddened to report the passing of Deolinda Nazaré D’Almeida. She was born in Lisbon, Lisbon District, Portugal on 20 February 1913 and passed away in Espinho, Aveiro District, Portugal on 12 October 2023 at 110 years, 234 days. At the time of her death, D’Almeida was the oldest living resident of Aveiro District and the second-oldest in the country, behind Maria da Conceição Brito.

As an elderly woman. (Source: Agência Funerária Nova Esperança)
As an elderly woman.
(Source: Agência Funerária Nova Esperança)

D’Almeida was a wife and a mother to 2 children. She worked as a seamstress until the 1970s and usually taught sewing classes. In 2005, she moved into a nursing home.

LongeviQuest is extending our deepest condolences to the bereaved family and friends of Mrs. Deolinda Nazaré D’Almeida.

Her age was validated by the European Supercentenarian Organisation (ESO) on 6 May 2023.

LongeviQuest is pleased to announce the age validation of José Martins of Portugal at age 110. She was born in Canical, Madeira, Portugal on 7 March 1912. Throughout his life, he worked as a shepherd, farmer, fisherman, and later in the whaling industry for 25 years. He was also a husband and a father to 6 children.

(Source: RTP Madeira)

Martins was a healthy and active man who lived a long and fulfilling life. He never drank or smoked, and he enjoyed eating a variety of foods in moderation. He was also a great storyteller, and he loved sharing his memories of life on Madeira with others. In March 2022, he celebrated his 110th birthday, making him the first supercentenarian from Madeira. At the time, he was still able to walk with a walker and enjoyed singing fado music.

Being interviewed for his 110th birthday in 2022.
(Source: RTP Madeira)

Jose Martins died in Caniçal, Machico, Madeira on 14 May 2022, at the age of 110 years, 68 days. He was the oldest living man in Portugal at the time of his death.

LongeviQuest congratulates José Martins’s family on her posthumous recognition.

For more information, please view Martins’s Directory Profile here.

LongeviQuest is pleased to report that the European Supercentenarian Organisation (ESO) has validated the age of Custódia Maria Inácia at 110. She was born in Odemira, Beja District, Alentejo, Portugal on 26 April 1913. Inácia’s first job was picking olives at the age of four. From a very young age, she worked in agriculture, and later as a housekeeper.

Inácia on her 108th birthday (Source: Gerontology Wiki)

In 2018, at the age of 105, Inácia moved into a nursing home in Faro, Faro District. She recovered from COVID-19 aged 107. She became the first supercentenarian born in the region of Alentejo in 2023. Inácia was first noted for her longevity, apart from a brief mention aged 103, on her 108th birthday. Her 110th birthday was also widely reported in Portuguese media.

She died in

LongeviQuest congratulates Custódia Maria Inácia’s family on her posthumous recognition.

For more information, please view Inácia’s Directory Profile here.

LongeviQuest is glad to report the addition of Carmelina Augusta Delgado to our ever-growing directory of supercentenarians.. She was the oldest living Portuguese supercentenarian in her country at the time of death. Her age was recently validated by the European Supercentenarian Organisation (ESO).

Delgado was born in the parish of Cabeça de Igreja (later annexed to the parish of Tuizelo), Municipality of Vinhais, Bragança, Portugal, on 8 November 1900. She left Bragança to live with her godmother, “Dona Inacinha” when she was 10 years old.

At the age of 106. (Source: Portal do Envelhecimento)
At the age of 106.
(Source: Portal do Envelhecimento)

Carmelina left her godmother when she was 23 years old to marry a policeman named Manuel António Gonçalves. Because of his husband’s field of work, they are always moving places as she was accompanying Manuel wherever he was deployed. The couple had two daughters together where one learned to work as a seamstress and the other went to study for school.

Carmelina Delgado passed away in Vimioso, Bragança, Portugal, on 19 May 2013.

For more information, please view Carmelina Augusta Delgado’s Directory Profile here.

The European Supercentenarian Organisation (ESO) is an Accredited Partner Organization of LongeviQuest. ESO researchers are represented on the Global Validation Commission by Dr. Andrew Holmes.

LongeviQuest is pleased to report that the European Supercentenarian Organisation (ESO) has validated the age of Deolinda Nazaré D’Almeida at 110 years. A Portuguese supercentenarian, she was born on 20 February 1913 in Lisbon, Lisbon District.

Da Nazaré on her 109th birthday (Source: Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Espinho on Facebook)
Da Nazaré on her 109th birthday (Source: Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Espinho on Facebook)

She had a son and a daughter with her late milliner husband, Manuel Morais. She casually taught sewing classes while being a seamstress until the 1970s. Shortly after, her husband passed away in 1973. She is currently residing at Espinho, Aveiro District, Portugal where is the oldest resident and third oldest in the whole country.

For more information, please view Mrs. D’Almeida Directory Profile here.

The European Supercentenarian Organisation (ESO) is an Accredited Partner Organization of LongeviQuest. ESO researchers are represented on the Global Validation Commission by Dr. Andrew Holmes