Inah Canabarro Lucas - Gerontology Research Group

Full name: Inah Canabarro Lucas
Lifespan: (08.06.1908 – present)
Age: 116 years
Birthplace: Sao Francisco de Assis, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Last residence: Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Application date: 17.12.2020
Validation date: 08.06.2020
Validation source: Josemara Rocha/Robert Young/Ricardo Pereira Lago/Tiago Jose Silva/Gerson Dias/Irma Lucia Bassotto/Angelo Jose Goncalves Bos

Biography

Inah Canabarro Lucas was born in Sao Francisco de Assis, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil on 8 June 1908, to parents Joao Antonio Lucas and Mariana Canabarro Lucas. While she has claimed to have been born on 27 May 1908, research found that she was likely born 11 days later. As a child, she was so skinny that many people didn’t think she would survive childhood. She is the great-granddaughter of General David Canabarro. Her father died in combat in 1923.

She studied at the Santa Teresa de Jesus boarding school in Santana do Livramento, Rio Grande do Sul. Around 1928, she moved to Montevideo, Uruguay, where she became a nun. In 1930, she returned to Brazil to teach Portuguese and mathematics at a school in Tijuca, a neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro. In the early 1940s, she moved back to Santana do Livramento where she worked as a teacher.

On 25 January 2021, at the age of 112, she received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, making her one of the oldest people to receive the vaccine. In October 2022, Canabarro Lucas contracted COVID-19 while she was hospitalized, but was later able to recover from the disease in November 2022, making her one of the oldest known survivors of the disease.

On 2 January 2022, at the age of 113 years, 208 days, Canabarro Lucas surpassed the final age of Luzia Mohrs (1904–2017), becoming the oldest Brazilian ecclesiastical person ever.

On 23 January 2022, following the death of 116-year-old Antonia da Santa Cruz, she became the oldest living person in Brazil.

On 30 July 2022, following the death of 114-year-old Sofia Rojas of Colombia, she became the oldest living person in South America.

On 17 January 2023, following the death of 118-year-old Lucile Randon of France, she became the oldest living nun in the world.

On her 115th birthday in 2023, Dr. Angelo Jose Goncalves Bos, GRG Correspondent for Brazil, visited Inah Canabarro Lucas and presented her with the official GRG plaque, recognizing her as the oldest living person in Brazil and South America.

Inah Canabarro Lucas currently lives in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil at the age of 115.

Inah Canabarro Lucas on her 115th birthday in 2023.

Longevity recognition

Oldest living person in Brazil (23.01.2022 – present)
Oldest living person in South America (30.07.2022 – present)
Oldest living nun in the world (17.01.2023 – present)

Validation

Her age was verified by Josemara Rocha, Robert Young, Ricardo Pereira Lago, Tiago Jose Soares Silva, Gerson Dias, Irma Lucia Bassotto and Angelo Jose Goncalves Bos, and validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) on 8 June 2023.