Cuban Woman Celebrates 126th Birthday, Relatives Say

CEIBA HUECA, Cuba — Relatives and friends of a Cuban woman have celebrated what they say is her 126th birthday, though that claim to longevity is not recognized internationally. Cuba's Prensa Latina agency says Juana Bautista de la Candelaria Rodriguez has a civil registry document that states she was born on Feb. 2, 1885, in the town of Ceiba Hueca, where she still lives.

Her 125th birthday celebration last year was covered extensively in the island's state-run media, but she isn't recognized by the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group, which verifies information for Guinness World Records.

The claim would make her the world's oldest person by more than a decade. At 114 years old, American Besse Cooper is recognized as the world's oldest person.

Comments

[Cutt2chase]

08:39 PM on 02/07/2011

This is truly amazing. The picture says it all enjoy life and we'll all live a lot longer.

[SrAN]

05:23 PM on 02/07/2011

Happy Birthday Senora Rodriguez. Oh to have the honor to be able to sit and just listen to you and hear your life story...

[Max Shaw]

02:28 PM on 02/07/2011

If I lived to be 126 I would be shoving cake into my face too! Happy Birthday indeed! :)

[yinkadlb8]

09:52 AM on 02/07/2011

Living over 100 years has its beauty or adverse effects if you're not healthy enough. Anyway I'm glad she made to 126 years. Happy Birthday.

[ArtsyJane]

04:21 AM on 02/07/2011

This doesn't seam right. For a long time the oldest person in the world was Jeanne Calmant, a French woman, who died a few years back. If this woman is today 126, then Jeanne Calmant could not have been the oldest person in the world, which she officially was. So, I think that this Cuban woman is younger than what her relatives say. For example, a good way to know is to see when her kids were born and how old they are. Are they 100?

[bruno68]

04:51 PM on 02/08/2011

Calmant died in 1995 at the age of 122: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Calment.
This woman here would have been 110 at the time?

[BlackYowe]

11:42 PM on 02/06/2011

I love the photo!

[Tolms]

12:16 PM on 02/07/2011

Agreed!

[CuteAndVicious]

07:19 PM on 02/06/2011

I admire her :) Happy Birthday to her ^_^

[SaddieMcCall]

01:26 PM on 02/06/2011

She has a beautiful head of hair.

[MerrieWay]

11:17 PM on 02/05/2011

Wow... she knows what she likes...might be a clue to her longevity.

[dnb310]

06:50 AM on 02/05/2011

My mom stopped going sleeveless at 60, I'm just sayin'.

[BlackYowe]

11:43 PM on 02/06/2011

Why would you even say that.? It's rude and unkind.

[dnb310]

01:52 AM on 02/07/2011

They say the key to longevity is a sense of humor.

[Vivicca Whitsett]

02:19 PM on 02/04/2011

Mazel to Juana! My granny lived to 101 - so 125 - someone needs to film her like the Autobiography of Ms. Jane Pittman. She's seen it all!

[UnderTheHedgeWeGo]

01:45 PM on 02/04/2011

She doesn't look a day over 120!

[CommonWealth-SinglePayer]

08:51 AM on 02/04/2011

At 126 you can eat cake however you want

[gratefulpezhead]

01:27 AM on 02/04/2011

Easy to find out if she is 126...just ask her Mom.

[WestOfTheMoon]

09:50 AM on 02/06/2011

I was able to reach her mother this past weekend through a séance. It's not true. Per her late mother (R.I.P), Sra. Rodriguez is actually 129. Apparently there was some dishonesty sometime around 1890. She crossed back over before I got the details, sorry.

[European1919]

09:59 AM on 02/06/2011

Where did you buy that stuff?

[saskatoonie]

12:06 AM on 02/04/2011

Could you have posted a more flattering picture? Congratulations to her!

[RACVC]

10:28 PM on 02/05/2011

I agree that it wasn't the most flattering photo and I know they took a bunch.

Happy Birthday Juana.
I'm sure you are beautiful and have great wisdom.