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Emilio Flores Marquez
Emilio Flores Marquez
Emilio Flores Marquez (aged 112) after being recognized as the World's Oldest Man, 30 June 2021.
Birth: 8 August 1908
Carolina, Puerto Rico
Death: 12 August 2021
Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico
Age: 113 years, 4 days
Country: Puerto RicoPRI,United StatesUSA
Validated

Emilio Flores Marquez [Spanish: Márquez] (8 August 1908 – 12 August 2021) was a Puerto Rican supercentenarian who was recognized as the world's oldest living man by Guinness World Records from the death of Bob Weighton of the UK on 28 May 2020, until his own death on 12 August 2021.

He was validated officially on 14 May 2021. Before then, the oldest men alive after Weighton's death were believed to be Dumitru Comanescu (1908–2020) and Saturnino de la Fuente Garcia (1909–2022), the latter of whom regained his title after Flores Marquez died.

Biography

Emilio Flores Marquez was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico on 8 August 1908, to parents Alberto Flores and Margarita Marquez. The second-oldest of eleven children, at the age of 104 he could still easily recall the names of nine of his siblings (his oldest sister Maria died as a child): Angelina, Mercedes, Aurora, Joaquina, Cecilia, Rosa, Lino, Miguel, and Jose.

He attended school for three years and learned how to read and write, before his father thought it was enough and employed him on the family's sugarcane farm, where he helped his father water the compost. He wanted to study, as he enjoyed subjects like math, reading, writing, singing and politics. He also transported the sugarcane in wagons, earning $1.12 a day. As the first-born child in his family, he also was responsible for doing many of the household chores and taking care of his nine younger siblings. In 1935, He married Andrea Pérez de Flores (1915–2011), with whom he had four children: Hilda Luz, Olga Soraida, Emilio, and Tirsa. To support his family, he worked in the state of New Jersey, where a portion of his family still lives today. The couple were married for over 76 years before her death in 2011 at the age of 96. Two of his children, Hilda and Olga, were deceased as of 2013.

When asked for his secret to his longevity, he responded "My dad raised me with love, and taught me to love everyone. He always told me and my brothers and sisters to do good, to share everything with others. Besides, Christ lives in me!"

There was also a history of longevity in his family: his sister Joaquina Flores Marquez (1916–2018) lived to be 101 and his brother Miguel Flores Marquez (1920–2017) died two months before turning 97 in New Jersey, USA.

He lived with his children Tirsa and Emilio in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico for the last years of his life. At the age of 103, he overcame surgery to implant a pacemaker, and at 108, he survived an intestinal obstruction.

He became the oldest Puerto Rican alive on 15 December 2017, following the death of Secundina Rivera Cumba.

He became the last man born in 1908, following the death of Dumitru Comanescu on 27 June 2020.

In June 2021, when recognized as the oldest living man, Emilio Flores Marquez had five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Emilio Flores Marquez died on 12 August 2021 in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, at the age of 113 years, 4 days. Following his death, Saturnino de la Fuente Garcia became the world's oldest validated living man.

Gallery

External Links

References


World's Oldest Living Man Titleholders (V • TE)

Sylvester MelvinJoseph Saint-Amour • William Fullingim • John Mosley Turner • Friedrich Wedeking • Frederick Butterfield • Jean Teillet • Charlie Nelson • Charlie Phillips • Zachariah BlackistoneJames NashWalter WilcoxGregory PandazesJoe Thomas • Herman Smith-Johannsen • Alphaeus Philemon Cole • John Evans • Henri Perignon • James Wiggins • Frederick Frazier • Josep Armengol-Jover • Christian Mortensen • Johnson Parks • Walter Richardson • Denzo Ishizaki • Antonio Urrea-Hernandez • John Painter • Antonio Todde • Yukichi Chuganji • Joan Riudavets-Moll • Fred Hale • Emiliano Mercado del Toro • Tomoji Tanabe • Henry Allingham • Walter Breuning • Jiroemon Kimura • Salustiano Sanchez • Arturo Licata • Alexander Imich • Sakari Momoi • Yasutaro Koide • Israel Kristal • Francisco Nunez Olivera • Masazo NonakaChitetsu WatanabeBob WeightonEmilio Flores MarquezSaturnino de la Fuente GarciaJuan Vicente Perez Mora


Puerto Rico's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (VE)

Jose del Carmen Matos SantiagoPetronila Ramos GonzalesPedro Zorrilla CaballeroMaria Echeandia CumpianoEmilia Hernandez de RamosRamona Trinidad Iglesias-JordanEmiliano Mercado del ToroFrancisco Haddock NavarroMatilde Monclova LebronUrbana SantiagoMaria Rivera CruzAmparo Cora de SantiagoSecundina Rivera CumbaEmilio Flores MarquezJuan EscribanoRosa Castrodad MelendezBienvenido Diaz GuilfuAna Luisa Garcia


Puerto Rico's Oldest Living Man Titleholders (VE)

Isabelo MartinezPedro Zorrilla CaballeroEmiliano Mercado del ToroFrancisco Haddock NavarroEugenio Torres ReyesEmilio NavarroRegino Hernandez PerezEmilio Flores MarquezJuan EscribanoMonico Rivera GautierBienvenido Diaz GuilfuSilverio Perez Rosado

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