World's oldest person dies

Maria Esther de Capovilla, the world’s oldest person according to Guinness World Records, has died in Ecuador aged 116, her granddaughter said.

Catherine Capovilla, 46, a property manager and estate agent in Miami, US, said Mrs Capovilla died at 3am local time yesterday (8am Irish time) in a hospital in the coastal city of Guayaquil, two days after coming down with pneumonia. Her funeral is planned for today.

Born on September 14, 1889 – the same year as Charlie Chaplin and Adolf Hitler - Mrs Capovilla was married in 1917 and widowed in 1949.

Robert Young, senior consultant for Gerontology for Guinness World Records, said Elizabeth Bolden, of Memphis, Tennessee, is the likely successor as the oldest person.

“Guinness World Records will have to make an official announcement from London,” he said. “For all practical purposes, the next oldest person is going to be presumed to be Elizabeth Bolden. She is 116, but she was born 11 months after Capovilla.”