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Victoria de la Cruz Garcia
Victoria de la Cruz Garcia
Victoria de la Cruz Garcia on her 109th birthday.
Birth: 24 June 1907
Malaga, Andalusia, Spain
Death: 4 June 2018
Kitami, Tokyo, Japan
Age: 110 years, 345 days
Country: SpainESPJapanJPN
Validated

Victoria de la Cruz Garcia (24 June 1907 – 4 June 2018) was a Spanish-Japanese supercentenarian whose age was validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) in 2021. At the time of her death, she was the only immigrant to Japan known to have reached the age of 110 and still is. She is the oldest person not born in Japan to die in Japan.

Biography

Victoria de la Cruz Garcia was born on 24 June 1907 in Malaga, Andalusia, Spain. She became a nun in the 1920s and emigrated to Japan in 1936 by boat, which took two months.

Three years later, when World War 2 began, she and the other nuns in the congregation marched to the mountains of Karuizawa, Nagano prefecture. After the war ended, she and the other nuns left for Yokohama, Kanagawa prefecture. Because she was a nun, she never married nor had children.

During her years spent as an active nun, Victoria worked in several Japanese schools and was praised by the Japanese government. She also founded several religious houses, and even lived in one of them for six years. In 1981, she went back to her home country of Spain for the final time. She has never been since.

Later in her life, she moved to Kitami, Tokyo, Japan, and settled in a religious residential home. At the age of 109, she could still walk without the use of a cane. On her 110th birthday, she played the castanets as a performance to her friends.

Victoria de la Cruz Garcia died in Kitami, Tokyo, Japan, on 4 June 2018 at the age of 110 years, 345 days.

References

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