| Olimpio Martins Pires | |
 Olimpio Martins Pires on his 110th birthday. | |
| Birth: | 24 August 1910 Aracuai, Minas Gerais, Brazil |
| Death: | 16 October 2020 Manga, Minas Gerais, Brazil |
| Age: | 110 years, 52 days |
| Country: |  BRA
|
| Unvalidated | |
Olimpio Martins Pires (born 24 August 1908/1910? - 16 October 2020) is a Brazilian supercentenarian whose age is currently unvalidated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG). If his claimed age is true, he became the oldest living man in Brazil following the death of Joao Zanol on 12 February 2020, and the world's oldest living man following the death of Bob Weighton on 28 May 2020.
Biography
Olimpio Martins Pires claims to have been born in Aracuai in the Jequitinhonha River valley of Minas Gerais, Brazil on 24 August 1908. However, later-life documents mention his birth year as 1910 but, according to the family, as he had many brothers and his mother went to register them all at once, he was registered with the birth date of a brother who was two years younger than him. He was born as the son of sugar cane mill owner and flour merchant, Armindo Martins dos Santos, and his wife Rosenda Soares dos Santos. His mother was a housewife. He spent his childhood in Araçuai, helping his father to make rapadura (unrefined whole cane sugar). He had 8 brothers. As a young man, he entered the Military Police of Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, under the influence of his uncle, Jose Martins Pinto, then PM sergeant. He served in cities such as Belo Horizonte, Aracuai, Diamantina, Sao Francisco and Sao Sebastiao de Pocoes. As a PM soldier, he participated in the Revolutions of 1930, 1932 and other armed movements, where he saw many colleagues die and, with much sadness, had to bury their bodies.
At the age of 29, he married Joana dos Santos, then aged 14, in Rio Pardo de Minas, however they got their first child when Joana was around 24. The couple had nine children: Armindo, Neide, Elza, Maria da Ascencao, Joao Batista (deceased), Jose Olimpio, Cleonice, Raimundo and Geraldo (deceased). He arrived in Manga, Minas Gerais on 5 October 1940, still a soldier. In 1953, he was honored by the Government of Minas Gerais through Decree No. 4,123, recognizing his services in the revolutions and promoting him to the 3rd Sergeant. Besides being a soldier, he also worked as a delegate, prosecutor and judge. He was once stabbed by a prisoner near the navel, but managed to recover. In August 2016, he had 22 grandchildren and about 30 great-grandchildren. His wife died in 2018 at the age of 95, after 81 years of marriage.
Olimpio died in Manga, Minas Gerais, Brazil, on 16 October 2020, at the age of 112 years, 53 days.
Gallery
References
- 108th Birthday Facebook Post, 24 August 2016
- 110th Birthday Facebook Post, 24 August 2018
- 111th Birthday Facebook Post, 24 August 2019
- Militar mais antigo de Minas comemora 112 anos de vida Estado de Minas, 24 August 2020
- sargento-mais-velho-de-minas-gerais-morre-aos-112-anos Itatiaia, 17 October 2020
| Brazil's Oldest Living Man Titleholders (V • E) |
|
Anisio Rodrigues Alves • Ramiro Ramos dos Santos • Isidoro Jose de Almeida • Joao Paulo de Souza • Joao Jose Dias • Aldegundes Pereira de Castro • Joaquim Saraiva Lessa • Chevelar Montenegro Peixoto • Jose Rodrigues Avelino • Leonidio dos Santos • Jordelino Cardoso • Joao Zanol • Geraldo de Jesus • Delio Venturotti • Hilario Vasconcelos • Virgilio Medeiros • Josias de Oliveira |