According to Guinness, 112-year-old Juan Vicente Pérez drinks a glass of cognac every day, works hard and sleeps well
Juan Vicente Pérez, 112, was recognized by Guinness as the oldest living man on Tuesday, May 17. The Venezuelan farmer turns 113 on May 27 and revealed the recipe for living past 100.
In addition to hard work and a good night's sleep, Pérez says he needs to drink a glass of cognac every day, Guinness reported, adding that he has exceptional health and memory. He remembers his childhood, his marriage, the names of his siblings, children and grandchildren. He loves being surrounded by family and friends.
Where was the man born?
Born in Venezuela, in the city of El Cobre, Táchira state, Pérez has been married for 60 years and has 11 children, 41 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and 12 great-great-grandchildren. His wife died in 1997. The centenarian began working as a farmer at a very young age.
He was already helping his parents on the sugar and coffee plantations at the age of 5 and, as an adult, he served as a court officer, resolving land disputes in the city where he lived, Caricuena.
His family is very grateful for Pérez’s health, says one of his daughters, Nelyda. Although he wishes he could live longer, the old man wants to be remembered as a hard worker, faithful to his wife and deeply religious when he is gone.
Perez joins a 118-year-old French nun who became the world's oldest person in April after the death of 119-year-old Japanese man Kane Tanaka. The nuns' recipe for a longer life follows in the footsteps of the Venezuelan nuns.
According to the care staff looking after Luciee at a nursing home in the southeastern French city of Toulon, she drinks a glass of wine every day. She is holding her wine glass and perhaps that is her secret to longevity, a staff member said.
Sister Luciles' counselor, David Tavela, has previously said she aims to surpass the longest-lived person on record, Jeanne Louise Calment, also French, who lived 122 years and 164 days and died in 1997. A wheelchair-bound nun, she likes to keep her mind active. "They wake me up at 7 a.m., bring me my breakfast and sit me down at my desk where I do little things," the nun told Guinness World Records.
