A Brazilian man whose parents were African slaves could be the oldest living
person ever documented after receiving a birth cerficate showing he turned
126 last week, it was reported on Tuesday.
Jose Aguinelo dos Santos was born on July 7 1888, just two months after
slavery was abolished in Brazil - the last country in the world to outlaw
the trade.
Yet the batchelor, who never married or had children, still walks without a
stick, eats four meals a day and has no health problems - despite smoking a
packet of cigarettes a day for the last 50 years.
Jose - known simply as Ze - was apparently 26 when the First World War broke
out, and already a pensioner at 65 when Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the
British throne.
If the birth certificate is genuine, he would have been 52 when Brazil
football legend Pele was born - and 62 when Brazil last hosted the World
Cup, in 1950.
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