Emiliano Mercado del Toro (August 21, 1891 – January 24, 2007) was a Puerto Rican supercentenarian and military veteran who was, at age 115, the world's oldest person following the death of 116-year-old Elizabeth Bolden on December 11, 2006, until his own death on January 24, 2007. He had already been the world's oldest man from November 19, 2004, upon the death of Fred Harold Hale. At the time of his death in January 2007, aged 115 years and 156 days, Mercado was the second oldest fully validated male ever, behind Danish-American Christian Mortensen's record of 115 years 252 days. Japanese man, Shigechiyo Izumi, was still believed to be older at the time of Mercado's death, but his record was withdrawn by Guinness World Records in 2010.

Biography

Emiliano Mercado del Toro (known to his family as "Emilio") was born on August 21, 1891, in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico (at a time when Puerto Rico was a Spanish colony), the son of Delfín Mercado Cáceres and Gumercinda del Toro Padilla. Emiliano worked in the sugarcane fields until the age of 81. He never married and never had children, but said he had three "girlfriends" (love interests) in his life.

Accolades

Mercado first came to the attention of longevity researchers in 2001, after a story about a 110-year-old veteran in a parade in Puerto Rico. Researchers tried to track him down, but no documents were forthcoming until after the November 2004 death of Fred Harold Hale. By January 2005, Guinness had accepted Mercado as the oldest living man.

Mercado was 27 years old in October 1918 when he was drafted into the U.S. Army to serve in World War I. He was still at a training camp in Panama when the November 11, 1918 armistice was declared. He later became the longest-lived veteran of any military force, Mercado del Toro, the elder of two siblings, had to move from his familiar Cabo Rojo grounds due to a fall he had in his home when he was 102, which affected his hipbone.

Later life

Mercado could reminisce about being a child when U.S. troops invaded Puerto Rico in 1898, and he clearly remembered the fighting that marked the end of Spain's colonial empire in the Americas. He credited his longevity to () a boiled corn, codfish and milk cream-like dish, which he had a habit of eating every day.

See also

  • List of Puerto Ricans
  • List of the verified oldest people
  • Longevity

References

  • Emiliano Mercado and Iris Chacón (photo)
  • Mercado photo gallery at Puerto Rican daily newspaper El Nuevo Dia
  • Obituary