WASHINGTON — Juan Vicente Pérez Mora, the oldest living man in the world, has died just weeks before he would have turned 115,
"Our dear Juan Vicente Pérez Mora, with profound sadness and pain we say goodbye to you today, to that archetype of a Tachiran man, humble, hard-working, peaceful, enthusiastic about family and tradition," Freddy Bernal wrote., he attributed his long life to"working hard, resting on holidays, going to bed early, drinking a glass of aguardiente every day, loving God, and always carrying him in his heart.
Nuestro querido Juan Vicente Pérez Mora, hoy con profunda tristeza y dolor nos despedimos de usted, de ese arquetipo de hombre tachirense, humilde, trabajador, apacible, entusiasta de la familia y la tradición.Juan Vicente was married to Ediofina del Rosario Garcia for 60 years until her death in 1997. The couple had 11 children, 42 grandchildren, 18 great-granchildren and 12 great-great-grandchildren.
"Not only was Sr Perez Mora his country’s oldest citizen and the first South American recognised by GWR as the oldest living man, he is now history’s fourth oldest male whose age has been officially ratified," Craig Glenday, Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief said in a statement.
The next person to be named world's oldest living man is expected to be 112-year-old Gisaburo Sonobe of Japan, Guinness World Records said. is currently Maria Branyas Morera, who turned 117 in March. She was born in 1907 in San Francisco, California, but moved with her family to Spain in 1915.