Emiliano Mercado del Toro (August 21,
1891 – January 24, 2007) was the world's
oldest person for six weeks, and the world's
oldest man from November 19, 2004 (death of
Fred H. Hale,
Sr.) until his own death at age 115. He is
the oldest verified military
veteran ever, although he was a non-combat veteran. The
supercentenarian was also the last
remaining documented person born in 1891 and the most recent man to
hold the title of oldest person.
He officially became the oldest documented living person on
December 11, 2006, following the death of 116-year-old
Elizabeth Bolden. He was the 36th person to
hold this title since its inception. He was one of the few males to
hold this title: the 16 consecutive preceding holders were all
female, as were 39 of the top 40 oldest persons living at the time
of his death.
Mercado was four years older at the time than
his successor as oldest living man, Tomoji
Tanabe from Japan
. The
last male to have held the title was the latter's countryman
Shigechiyo Izumi in 1986, although
his
longevity is disputed.
Mercado is the oldest verified person ever in the history of
Puerto Rico. On May 21, 2006, he reached
the age of
114 years
and 272 days, surpassing the previous recordholder,
Ramona Trinidad
Iglesias-Jordan, who also made it to the world's oldest living
person status.
When he
died at the age of 115 years 156 days, Mercado was the second
oldest fully validated male ever, close behind Danish
-American
Christian
Mortensen, the current title-holder, and the fifteenth oldest
person ever. He achieved the runner-up position on March 31,
2006, when he surpassed the longevity mark of 114 years and 222
days set by Matthew Beard (USA), who lived from 1870 to 1985 (which
is also disputed).
He was buried at the Municipal Cemetery of his native town of Cabo
Rojo, with mayors, legislators and Puerto Rican "vedette"
Iris Chacón in attendance.
Biography
Emiliano
(known to his family as "Emilio") was born in Cabo Rojo,
Puerto Rico
, the son of Delfin Mercado and Gumercinda del
Toro. Emiliano worked in the cane fields until the age of
81. He never married and never had children, but said he had three
"girlfriends" (love interests) in his life.
Accolades
Mercado first came to the attention of longevity researchers in
2001, when a story ran about a 110-year-old veteran in a parade in
Puerto Rico. After that, researchers tried to track him down, but
only after the November 2004 death of
Fred H. Hale,
Sr. did someone finally start sending in documents. Following
Fred's passing, Emiliano apparently became the oldest man in the
world, with documents supplied so far including a birth
certificate, baptismal certificate, 1910 census record and veteran
ID card. By January 2005, Guinness had accepted Emiliano as the
"oldest living man whose age could be fully
authenticated".
In addition, as a veteran of
the First World
War, he broke the record for longest-lived veteran of any
military force that was set by
Antonio
Todde, albeit as a non-combat veteran (Mercado was still in
training camp when the November 11, 1918
armistice was
declared).
In 1993, he was honored by U.S. President
Bill Clinton with the medal commemorating the
75th anniversary of the signing of the truce that ended World War
I. Mercado del Toro, the elder of two siblings, had to move from
his familiar Cabo Rojo grounds due to a fall he had in his home
when he was 102, which affected his hipbone. His 85 year-old niece
took him to live with his relatives, and he was well taken care of
by nieces and nephews - and their families, who called him
"Tío
Millo" ("Uncle Millo")- at their home in
Isabela.
Later life
Mercado
could reminisce about being a child when U.S. troops invaded Puerto Rico in
1898, and he clearly remembered the fighting that marked the end of
Spain
's colonial empire in the Americas. He credited his longevity to
funche, a boiled
corn,
codfish and
milk cream-like dish,
which he ate every day as a habit.
Mercado also claimed that his sense of humor was probably
responsible for his long life, and he would tell jokes and humorous
anecdotes almost to the end of his days. He would not elaborate on
details of his love life, but would humorously hint about them: in
one of the many interviews he gave to Puerto Rican media, Mercado
claimed to have been at the "dancing club" (a euphemism for a
bordello) owned by
Isabel Luberza Oppenheimer (better known as
"
Isabel la Negra") the day she was
assassinated. He was 83 years old at the time and reportedly hid
under a table when Oppenheimer's killers started firing gunshots.
Asked what he was doing there, he said: "praying... or at least I
was when the bullets started flying!"
His last two birthdays were media events in the town of Isabela.
Civic leaders and veterans commended Mercado on his endurance and
lucid mind, but the "gift" he would enjoy the most was the visit of
Puerto Rican
vedette and media icon
Iris Chacón. In an interview,
Mercado claimed to be a great fan of the artist, and particularly
of her
derrière (
"That rump was
something serious!", he was quoted as saying). Chacón visited
Mercado, who, although he could barely see or hear by the time of
his 114th birthday, was pleased with her visit. His photo touching
Chacón's
rear end, with a big smile on his
face, made newspaper headlines in Puerto Rico. She returned the
following year to greet him. After hearing news of Mercado's death,
Chacón was quoted as saying:
"I feel like I've lost my own
grandfather. I was blessed for knowing him, knowing that I
made him happy, and blessed for the anecdotes and wishes he told me
the times I met him. His wisdom is something I learned a
lot from. His life is an example of how you're supposed to
live your life, happily and doing good, for it will give you
longevity and goodwill from everyone."
See also
References
- El Nuevo Día report on Mercado del Toro's
death (in Spanish)
- Amazon.com: Earth's Elders - Wisdom, World's
Oldest - p. 210: "Emiliano never married".
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