A Brazilian great-great-grandmother who is set to turn 115 in July is the world's new oldest living person, Guinness World Records certified Wednesday.
Guinness World Records said in a declaration posted on its website that Maria Gomes Valentim is 114 years and 313 days, 48 days older than American Besse Cooper, who was previously considered the world's oldest living person.
She was born on July 9, 1896, in Carangola, a city about 380 km northeast of Rio de Janeiro. She married in 1913 and was widowed in 1946. She and her husband, Joao, had one son, four grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren.
Valentim credits her long life to a healthy diet, Guinness says. Every morning, she eats a bread roll with coffee, fruit and "the occasional milk with linseed."
She is still able to eat completely on her own and indulges in the occasional glass of wine.
Guinness World Records editor-in-chief Craig Glendlay said Valentim is the first Brazilian to become the world's oldest person.
'To receive an assert from a woman born during the reign of Queen Victoria - before the Ford Motor Company was formed, or before even George and Ira Gershwin were born - is amazing in itself, but for that woman to be Brazilian makes it extra special,' he said.
