World’s oldest person and nun Inah Canabarro Lucas dies aged 116

The world’s oldest person and oldest nun Inah Canabarro Lucas has died at age 116 years and 326 days.

She was announced as the title holder in January following the death of Japan’s Tomiko Itooka, as confirmed by LongeviQuest.

Inah died on 30 April, LongeviQuest confirmed.

She was born on 8 June 1908 in Sao Francisco de Assis in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and had been so skinny as a child that many didn’t believe she would survive into adulthood.

Little did they know, she’d live to become the world’s oldest woman and person.

Inah had begun her religious journey at the age of 16.

She started studying to become a nun on 27 December 1928 at the Santa Teresa de Jesus boarding school in Santana do Livramento.

She later moved to Montevideo, Uruguay, where she took her vows to become a nun on 27 July 1934.

After returning to Brazil, she became a teacher of Portuguese and mathematics at a school in Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro.

She taught for many years in numerous places, and eventually took a position at the Provincial House in Porto Alegre in 1980.

When she turned 110, Inah was honoured by Pope Francis on her birthday with an apostolic blessing.

She attributed her long life to God, saying once: “He is the secret of life. He is the secret of everything.”

Inah was the second oldest nun ever documented in history, behind Lucile Randon, who was also known as Sister André, and was the world’s oldest person until her death at age 118.

Inah was believed to be the last person who was born in 1908.

Images courtesy of LongeviQuest