Showing posts with label Emma Morano. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Emma Morano. Show all posts

22 January 2019

Antonio Todde - supercentenarian

Sardinian shepherd holds record as oldest Italian in history


Antonio Todde attributed his longevity to long walks and a daily glass of local red wine
Antonio Todde attributed his longevity to long walks
and a daily glass of local red wine
Antonio Todde, who was the oldest living man in the world before he died at the age of 112 years 346 days in 2002 and remains the oldest Italian man in history, was born on this day in 1889 in Tiana, a mountain village in Sardinia.

There are 19 other Italians who have attained a higher age, but all are women. Maria Giuseppa Robucci, from Apulia, is still living at the age of 115 years 307 days but would need to survive a further year and 195 days to match Emma Morano, from Piedmont, who died in 2017 aged 117 years 137 days as the oldest Italian of all time.

Todde was the world’s most senior male centenarian from the death of the American John Painter on March 1, 2001 until his own death 10 months later.

He was born to a poor shepherd family in Tiana, about 140km (87 miles) north of Cagliari in the Gennargentu mountains, about 55km (34 miles) southwest of the provincial capital, Nuoro.

The area historically has a high number of centenarians and there was longevity in Todde’s family. His father Francesco lived to be 90 years old, and his mother Francesca 98. His sister Maria Agostina - one of 11 siblings - was still alive at the age of 97 at the time of his death and herself lived to be 102.

Emma Morano, pictured at 21, lived to be 117, as the oldest Italian in history
Emma Morano, pictured at 21, lived to be 117,
as the oldest Italian in history
Born the same year as the Eiffel Tower was completed, Todde believed that the secret of his long life was a daily glass of locally-produced red wine, made by his grandson on the same rocky hills on which, as a shepherd, he spent almost all his life.

He had a simple diet based on pasta, vegetable soup, red meat and cheese, took regular long walks and relaxed by playing cards with his friends.

He rarely suffered ill health and passed away in his sleep, just a few hours after complaining that he had no appetite.

Todde left Sardinia only to fight in the First World War, in which he suffered an injured shoulder as a result of a grenade explosion.

In 1920, he married Maria Antonia, then aged 25, and they had four daughters and a son. She died in 1990, aged 95.

Todde's life and those of his fellow islanders was the focus of a scientific project, called Akea, into ageing and longevity, which was prompted by the high number of Sardinia's 1.6 million population who become centenarians.

Some 135 people per million on the island live to see their 100th birthday, compared with the western average of 75.

Akea is an acronym for "A Kent'Annos" - a Sardinian traditional greeting which means "a hundred years". It grew from studies carried out since 1997 by the team of Professor Luca Deiana, head of the biochemistry clinic, University of Sassari. The study took into account genetic, dietary and lifestyle factors.

Antonio Todde worked as a shepherd in the rugged Gennargentu mountains of central Sardinia
Antonio Todde worked as a shepherd in the rugged
Gennargentu mountains of central Sardinia
Travel tip:

The village of Tiana is located on the western slopes of the Gennargentu massif, almost at the geographical centre of Sardinia, surrounded by mountains climbing to more than 1,000m (3,280ft). The village traditionally produced a woolen fabric called orbace, obtained from spinning wool and used to make winter clothes. Narrow streets, houses huddled together and passages covered by arches characterize the historical centre of the village.  A museum of industrial archaeology in the locality of Gusagu includes Sa Cracchera de tziu Bellu, the last active fulling-mill on the island, and one of only a few in Europe. Fulling is a process aimed at eliminating oil, dirt and other impurities from wool and making it thicker.

Nuoro is a city of narrow streets and traditional stone houses
Nuoro is a city of narrow streets and
traditional stone houses
Travel tip:

Nuoro is a city in eastern central Sardinia of about 36,000 people, the sixth largest on the island, characterised by cobbled streets lined with traditional stone houses.  Situated on the slopes of Monte Ortobene, it is the birthplace of several renowned writers, poets, painters, and sculptors, including Grazia Deledda, the only Italian woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, whose birthplace is one of the city’s many museums. As a cultural centre, Nuoro is sometimes called the Athens of Sardinia.

More reading:

Maria Radaelli - the Inter fan who for 10 months was the oldest living person in Europe

Lazzaro Ponticelli, the First World War veteran who became world's oldest living Italian

Francesco Chiarello: fought in two world wars, lived to be 109

Also on this day:

1506: The founding of the Papal Swiss Guard

1893: The birth of gang boss Francesco Ioele, also known as Frankie Yale

2005: The death of First World War veteran Carlo Orelli, aged 110


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3 April 2017

Maria Redaelli - supercentenarian

Inter fan who was the oldest living person in Europe


Crowds turned out in Novate Milanese as Maria arrived for a party to celebrate her 113th birthday
Crowds turned out in Novate Milanese as Maria arrived
for a party to celebrate her 113th birthday
Maria Angela Redaelli, a supercentenarian who for 10 months was the oldest living person in Europe and for 14 months the oldest living person in Italy, was born on this day in 1899 in Inzago in Lombardy.

She died in 2013 on the eve of what would have been her 114th birthday, at which point she was the fourth oldest living person in the world, behind the Japanese supercentenarians Jiroemon Kimura and Misao Okawa, and the American Gertrude Weaver.

Kimura died two months later at the age of 116 years and 54 days, which is the most advanced age reached by any male in the history of the human race, according to verifiable records.

Okawa and Weaver survived for another two years, Okawa reaching 117 years and 27 days, which made her the fifth oldest woman in history at the time, although she has since been overtaken by the Italian Emma Morano, who is still living in Pallanza on Lake Maggiore and is, at 117 years and 124 days, the oldest person on the planet of verifiable age.

Maria with her personal Inter shirt
Maria with her personal Inter shirt
At the time of her death, Maria was living in Novate Milanese, a suburb of Milan, being looked after by her 88-year-old daughter Carla and her grandson, Lamberto. She outlived her son, Luigi, by nine years.

Most of Maria’s working life was spent in a silk spinning mill, where she had a job for more than 40 years.  Her husband, Gaspare, was a steelworker employed by the locomotive and aircraft manufacturer, Breda, in the Milan suburb of Sesto San Giovanni, where they lived for much of their married life.

She and Gaspare, whom she married in 1923, were together for 56 years until he died in 1979 at the age of 81.

Although she had some problems with her hearing and vision, she remained in generally good health even until her last days. Mentally sharp, she read magazines and newspapers and followed the fortunes of her favourite Milan football team, Internazionale, on television.

When she suffered a broken thigh in a fall in 2003, it was the first time in 104 years that she had needed to go into hospital.

Maria's all-time favourite Inter player, the 1960s star Sandro Mazzola
Maria's all-time favourite Inter player,
the 1960s star Sandro Mazzola
On her 113th birthday, the Mayor of Novate Milanese hosted a party in Maria’s honour at the town hall. A police car picked her up at her daughter’s home, the mode of transport chosen because Italian police cars display the emergency telephone number 113.

At the town hall, she was surprised when the chief executive of Inter, Ernesto Paolillo, arrived with Bedy Moratti, sister of the club president, Massimo Moratti, and presented her with an Inter football shirt with her name on the back, and the number 113.

On previous occasions, she had met Inter stars Ivan Ramiro Cordoba and Javier Zanetti, although her favourite players were from a different era.

She admired Giuseppe Meazza, Inter’s prolific forward of the 1930s, after whom Milan’s municipal stadium – shared by Inter and AC Milan – was named.

Her real idol, though, was Sandro Mazzola, the goalscoring midfielder who starred in the Inter team that won the European Cup twice and the Serie A title three times in the 1960s.

She passed away in her sleep on the eve of another party planned for her, having already received a telegram of congratulations from the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napoletano.

The Villa Rey is one of a number of elegant residences that line the Martesana Canal in Inzago
The Villa Rey is one of a number of elegant residences
that line the Martesana Canal in Inzago
Travel tip:

Inzago was a small town of 4,500 people when Maria Redaelli was born, halfway betweeen Milan and Bergamo and with farmland all around it. Today, the population has more than doubled and it is part of the Milan metropolitan area, although its farming roots are still strong and a cattle fair is held in the town every Monday.  The town is divided in two by the Martesana Canal, which has a number of elegant villas – once the summer residences of noble Milanese families – along its banks.

The suburb of Sesto San Giovanni today
The suburb of Sesto San Giovanni today
Travel tip:

Sesto San Giovanni, the northernmost point on the Milan M1 metro line, is another place to have seen massive change since Maria and her husband Gaspare moved there in the 1920s, when it had a population of just over 15,000.  At that time it was an expanding industrial centre, the base for several large companies in the steel and motor industries but also the Campari drinks company.  The years after the Second World War saw a huge influx of migrants from other parts of Italy, attracted by the job possibilities. Today, the area is a busy suburb with more than 85,000 inhabitants. Many of the factories closed during the economic crisis of the 1990s and the current employers are more in the service sector, such as the telecommunications company, WIND.

More reading:


Giuseppe Meazza - Italian football's first superstar

Why Italy could not chose between Sandro Mazzola and Gianni Rivera

Internazionale - the breakaway club conceived over dinner at a Milan restaurant

Also on this day:




(Picture credits: Maria arrives and with shirt by Andre86; Villa Rey by MarkusMark; Sesto San Giovanni by Maksim; all via Wikimedia Commons)

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