Julio Saldarriaga Hernandez, Colombia’s oldest living person, celebrated his 111th birthday
The Gerontology Research Group is pleased to announce news that Mr. Julio Saldarriaga Hernandez, the oldest living man and person in Colombia, celebrated his 111th birthday in El Carmen de Viboral, Antioquia, Colombia on 3 November 2024.
Julio Saldarriaga Hernandez was born in El Carmen de Viboral, Antioquia, Colombia on 3 November 1913 (although he claims to have been born a few months earlier, on 30 July 1913, documentation from his early life confirms that he was born on 3 November 1913). During his earlier years, he lived in various towns and cities throughout Colombia, where he found work chopping wood and making charcoal. When he was 15, he met Maria Calista Garcia, who later become his wife. After marrying in 1936, the couple had 19 children, and remained together for 79 years until Calista’s death in 2015.
On 3 November 2023, he celebrated his 110th birthday, becoming a supercentenarian.
On 29 June 2024, following the death of 111-year-old Alfonso Maria Rojas Perdomo, he became the oldest known living man and person in Colombia.
As of his 111th birthday, he is the fifth-oldest documented living man in the world, sharing the position and birthday with Hilario Orozco Lemus of Mexico, who was also born on 3 November 1913.
