| Juana Aritama | |
 Juana Aritama on her 110th birthday in 2017 | |
| Birth: | 24 June 1907 Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia |
| Death: | 21 May 2021 Gaira, Magdalena, Colombia |
| Age: | 113 years, 331 days |
| Country: |  COL
|
| Validated | |
Juana Bautista Aritama Alandete de Fuentes (24 June 1907 – 21 May 2021) was a Colombian supercentenarian whose age has been validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG). At the time of her death, she was the oldest known living person in Colombia.
Biography[]
Aritama was born in Gaira, Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia on 24 June 1907, the youngest daughter of the six children of Domingo Aritama and Teodora Alandete, who were both single at the time. She loved to dance during her youth. She never attended school. She learned to read and write from the woman who taught her at her home. She worked in a community service, cooking arepas. She never drank alcohol. All of her life she lived in Gaira, Magdalena, Colombia. In Gaira, she met her husband, Jose Rosario Fuentes. She had six children with her husband, with whom she spent 54 years married. Four of her children were alive in 2020: Tranquilina, Olga, Silfredo, and Rosario. Her husband died at the age of 80. For some time, she worked with her niece, Dominga Hincapie Aritama, in the restaurant "Donde Minga" in El Rodadero.
Aritama was Catholic and she claimed the secret of her long life was her belief in God, and the food (fish, banana, yucca...). She was still able to walk unassisted at the age of 110. On her 111th birthday in 2018, she had 40 grandchildren, 90 great-grandchildren, and 42 great-great grandchildren. Aritama had been the oldest validated living person in Colombia since the death of Carmen Jaramillo Chavarria on 15 July 2020. Her age was verified by Stefan Maglov, Santiago Garcia and Fabrizio Villatoro, and validated by the GRG on 17 May 2021.
Aritama died in Gaira, Magdalena, Colombia on 21 May 2021 at the age of 113 years, 331 days. Following her death, then 113-year-old Sofia Rojas became the oldest known living person in Colombia.
Gallery[]
References[]
- GRG World Supercentenarian Rankings List Gerontology Research Group
- Ciento once años de anécdotas El Informador, 24 June 2018
- ELLA ES JUANA LA MUJER 'MÁS' LONGEVA DE SANTA MARTA El Callejero, 24 June 2018
- Juana es la mujer más vieja de Santa Marta con 112 años Hoy Diario del Magdalena, 25 June 2019
- 113th birthday Facebook Post, 24 June 2020
- Muere a sus 113 años la gairera más longeva de Colombia Hoy Diario del Magdalena, 22 May 2021
| Colombia's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (V • E) |
|
Transito Ayala • Benilda Ospino Altamar • Magdalena Hernandez • Clementina Saldarriaga Correa • Aurora Soto Rubio • Heroina Rivero Penaranda • Elvira Montoya Ordonez • Ana Sara Marquez de Ramirez • Alicia Castillo • Carmen Jaramillo Chavarria • Juana Aritama • Sofia Rojas • Eusebio Quintero Lopez • Efrain Antonio Rios Garcia • Francisca Mangonez Martinez • Alfonso Maria Rojas Perdomo • Julio Saldarriaga Hernandez |