Emma Morano

Emma Morano Martinuzzi
Born Emma Martina Luigia Morano
29 November 1899[1]
(age 116 years, 159 days)
Civiasco (Vercelli), Kingdom of Italy
Residence Pallanza (Verbano-Cusio-Ossola), Italy
Known for Oldest living Italian and European person
Oldest verified Italian person ever
Spouse(s) Giovanni Martinuzzi (1901–1978)
(m. 1926–1978; his death)[2]
Children One child (1937–1937)[3]
Parent(s) Giovanni Morano and Matilde Bresciani[4]

Emma Martina Luigia Morano Martinuzzi (born 29 November 1899[1]) is an Italian supercentenarian who is at the age of 116 years, 159 days, the oldest living person in Italy and Europe and the second oldest living person in the world behind American woman Susannah Mushatt Jones.

She is the oldest verified Italian person ever,[5] the second oldest person from Europe ever behind Jeanne Calment, one of the ten verified oldest people ever and the last living European person to have been born in the 19th century.[6]

Biography

Early life

Emma Martina Luigia Morano was born on 29 November 1899 in Civiasco, Vercelli, Piedmont, Italy to Giovanni Morano and Matilde Bresciani,[7] the eldest of eight children, five daughters and three sons. She had a long-lived family: her mother, an aunt and some of her siblings turned 90 and her sister, Angela Morano (1908–2011)[8] died at age 102.

When she was a child, she moved from the Sesia Valley to Ossola for her father's job,[9] but the climate was so unhealthy there that a physician advised her family to live somewhere with a milder climate so she moved to Pallanza, on Lake Maggiore, where she still lives. In October 1926, she married Giovanni Martinuzzi[10] (1901–1978) and in 1937 her only child was born but died when he was only six months old. The marriage was not happy[3] so in 1938 Morano decided to separate from her husband, driving him out of the house. Despite that the couple always remained formally married.

Until 1954, she was a worker for the Maioni Industry, a jute factory in her town. Then, she had another job, in the kitchen of "Collegio Santa Maria," a Marianist boarding school in Pallanza, until she was 75, when she retired.[7]

Later life

Morano was still living alone in her home on her 115th birthday.[11] When asked about the secret of her longevity, she said that she had never used drugs, eats three eggs a day, drinks a glass of homemade brandy, and savors a chocolate sometimes, but, above all, she thinks positively about the future.[12] Morano credits her long life to her diet of raw eggs and being single.[13]

In 2011, Morano was visited as part of a worldwide study conducted by George Church for Harvard Medical School of Boston, to study the secret of her longevity.[14]

In December 2011, she was awarded the honor of Knight of Order of Merit of the Italian Republic by President Giorgio Napolitano.[15]

Morano became the oldest living person in Italy and Europe after the death of Maria Redaelli on 2 April 2013.[10] On the occasion of her 114th birthday, she gave a short live TV interview to a RAI show.[16] On her 116th birthday, Morano received congratulations from Pope Francis.[17]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Oldest Validated Living Supercentenarians". Gerontology Research Group. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Auguri alla nonna d'Italia che ha visto 10 Papi" (in Italian). Sanfrancescopatronoditalia.it. Retrieved 2013-05-05.
  3. 1 2 "Emma Morano, 112 anni: ha visto dieci Papi. Il segreto? Tre uova al dì" (in Italian). 45.9215067,8.5515597: Blitzquotidiano.it. Retrieved 2013-05-05.
  4. ↑ "La centenaria a caccia dei parenti locarnesi" (in Italian). Caffe.ch. Retrieved 2013-05-05.
  5. ↑ Emma Morano nuovo record Retrieved 2015-09-11.
  6. ↑ Oldest living person dies at age 117: Here are 5 others who have lived to a ripe old age
  7. 1 2 (Italian) "I miei 112 anni di storia d'Italia"
  8. ↑ ""ANGIOLINA", SONO 102!" (in Italian). Verbaniamilleventi.org. 2007-03-27. Retrieved 2013-05-05.
  9. ↑ "La nonna che abbraccia tre secoli" (in Italian). Caffe.ch. 2010-11-12. Retrieved 2013-05-05.
  10. 1 2 mario.giovanardi. "Emma MArano 113 anni Mangio tre uova al giorno, come mi disse il dottore quando ero ragazza" (in Italian). Vip.it. Retrieved 2013-05-05.
  11. ↑ "Emma Morano compie 115 anni" (in Italian). ogginotizie.it. Retrieved 2014-12-03.
  12. ↑ "Nacque sotto re Umberto I. Era il 1899 Emma Morano é nata a Civiasco 112 anni fa. Oggi vive a Verbania e abita ancora da sola "Martedì ho festeggiato con torta e vino bianco". Mangia tre uova al giorno e beve la "sua" grappa" (in Italian). Civiasco.netweek.it. 1987-07-16. Retrieved 2013-05-05.
  13. ↑ Bender, Kelli. "Emma Morano, 115, Credits Her Long Life to Raw Eggs and Staying Single". Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  14. ↑ "Ricercatori Statunitensi E Troupe Rai Da Nonna Emmm" (in Italian). verbaniamilleventi.org. 2007-03-27. Retrieved 2013-05-05.
  15. ↑ "Le onorificenze della Repubblica italiana" (in Italian). Quirinale.it. Retrieved 2013-05-05.
  16. ↑ "Emma Morano compie 114 anni" (in Italian). ogginotizie.it. Retrieved 2013-11-30.
  17. ↑ "I 116 anni di Emma Morano". Eco Risveglio. 2015-11-29.
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