Thereza Favali Pocay

Thereza Favali Pocay (27 June 1904 – 20 October 2014) was a Brazilian supercentenarian whose age is currently unvalidated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG).

Biography
Thereza Favali Pocay was born on 27 June 1904 in Itapetininga, São Paulo, Brazil. Her parents were Paulo Favali and Maria Pereira Magalhaes. Thereza had two siblings: Italo and Amelia. During her childhood, her father passed away during his trip to Italy. Shortly after, her brother passed away of tetanus at the age of 7. With her older sister, she moved to their cousins and their maternal uncles: Dionysius and Adelina, who raised and educated them.

In their teens, both sisters chose the magisterium as a profession. They attended the normal course in the municipality of Itapetininga. Favali finishes the course with success. As a young woman, in 1922, she obtained a Normalista diploma. She was a named as a teacher by the decree on 10 February 1927, after which she came to live in the municipality of Salto Grande. Soonly after, on 2 March 1927, she started teaching in the Escolas Reunidas of Salto Grande. In 1930, she married Arnaldo Pocay and had five children with him: Dalva Rute, Benedito Gentil, Arnaldo Jose, Luiz Carlos and Roberto Marcio. Even as a wife and mother, she didn't abandoned the practice of teaching. In 1958, she retired with 31 years of career. Thereza said: "I loved my profession and loved children as if they were my children (...) and today those children who saw me as the great teacher in size, grew, multiplied and I divided in my size, I became small, but very thankful to God."

For many years she worked as a social worker in Salto Grande. In 1953, on invitation of her sister-in-law, Noemia Pocay, she joined the Progressive Social Party (PSP), winning the 1956 elections and fulfilling her mandate until 1959. In 1981, she broke her femur and wasn't able to walk for a whole year. In 2011, the school where she taught was named in her honor.

Thereza Favali Pocay passed away on 20 October 2014 in Salto Grande, São Paulo, Brazil, at the age of 110 years, 115 days.