The oldest man in the world dies, the Leonese Saturnino de la Fuente, about to turn 113

Saturnino de la Fuente, with the certificate from the `Guinness Book of Records' accrediting him as the longest living man.

Leonese Saturnino de la Fuente García, reputed until now as the oldest living man on the planet, died this Tuesday at his home in the capital of León when he had less than a month left to turn 113, on February 12, according to The family has confirmed to the Efe agency. De la Fuente had received on September 10, 2021, at 112 years and 211 days, the recognition of the

as the oldest man in the world, after the Puerto Rican Emilio Flores died a few days before with the same age. However, the oldest living person on Earth is a woman, the Japanese Kane Tanaka, who turned 119 on Sunday.

Death has befallen Saturnino de la Fuente "around eleven in the morning, shortly after breakfast, when he began to breathe heavily and in a few seconds it has gone out like a candle," his son-in-law, Bernardo Marcos, has detailed.

De la Fuente had received on September 10, 2021, at 112 years and 211 days, recognition from

, which even gave him a diploma.

Emilio Flores and Saturnino de la Fuente disputed the title of the oldest man in the world for a few months, since, despite the fact that the Puerto Rican claimed to have been born a few months earlier, he did not have official documentation of his birth. This anomaly is due to the fact that at that time babies were sometimes not registered or there were errors in their certification. Even in the Leonese ID it appears that he was born on February 12, 1909, but he did so on the 8th, as his son-in-law has reminded Efe. They registered it four days later, a common practice at the time to avoid paperwork if the baby died at a time when many newborns did not survive due to high perinatal mortality.

Saturnino de la Fuente was born during the reign of Alfonso XIII, lived through the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, experienced the Second Republic and suffered the Civil War.

He did not fight in the fratricidal conflict because he did not measure up (he did not reach the minimum required height), but his shoe factory was intervened, which was used to make boots for the army of the insurgent Francisco Franco.

With eight children, three of them already deceased, the last in 2020 during the second pandemic, Saturnino de la Fuente survived the Spanish flu of 1918. He was also the first man to be vaccinated against the coronavirus in the province of León.

In his long life, in which he has seen the birth of 14 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren, he has cheated death several times.

The most serious occurred in 1937 when Saturnino escaped dying under the rubble left by the crash of a Condor Legion plane on La Rúa de León street.

A shoemaker by profession, Pepino, as he was known by his friends, began working at the age of thirteen in a factory where he spent more than thirty years.

After the company closed, he established himself in his native neighborhood, Puente Castro, where he lived for many years.

In that neighborhood he founded a soccer team, CD Puente Castro, which is still active and of which he is an honorary member.

His mortal remains will be buried tomorrow in the Puente Castro cemetery.

It remains to be seen who now inherits the title of Saturnino, who has remained three years and days from the age reached by the oldest dead man on Earth (not counting the biblical Methuselah, father of Noah, who is awarded 969 years): Jirōemon Kimura, who lived to 116 years and 54 days.

The record title for the oldest living person belongs to Kane Tanaka (Japan), who is three years away from breaking the record for the oldest person in history, which currently belongs to Jeanne Louise Calment (France), who was born on February 21, 1875 and died at the age of 122.