Emiliano Mercado del Toro
| Emiliano Mercado del Toro | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
August 21, 1891 Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, Kingdom of Spain |
| Died | January 24, 2007 (aged 115 years, 156 days) Isabela, Puerto Rico |
| Resting place | Cementerio Municipal San Martín de Porres |
| Other names | Emilio |
| Known for | Oldest verified military veteran, oldest verified person from Puerto Rico |
| Parent(s) | Delfín Mercado Cáceres (father) Gumercinda del Toro Padilla (mother) |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army
|
| Rank | Private |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
Emiliano Mercado del Toro (August 21, 1891 – January 24, 2007) was a Puerto Rican supercentenarian who was, at age 115, the world's oldest person for six weeks, and the world's oldest man from November 19, 2004 (death of Fred H. Hale, Sr.) until his own death on January 24, 2007. Mercado became the oldest documented living person on December 11, 2006, following the death of 116-year-old Elizabeth Bolden.
At the time of his death in January 2007, at the age of 115 years and 156 days, Mercado was the second oldest fully validated male ever, behind Danish-American Christian Mortensen's record of 115 years 252 days. (Although Shigechiyo Izumi was still believed to be older at the time of his death. Izumi's record was withdrawn by Guinness World Records in 2010.)
Emiliano (known to his family as "Emilio") was born in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, (at a time when Puerto Rico was a Spanish colony) the son of Delfín Mercado Cáceres and Gumercinda del Toro Padilla. Emiliano worked in the cane fields until the age of 81. He never married and never had children, but said he had three "girlfriends" (love interests) in his life.
Mercado first came to the attention of longevity researchers in 2001, when a story ran about a 110-year-old veteran in a parade in Puerto Rico. After that, researchers tried to track him down, but only after the November 2004 death of Fred H. Hale, Sr. did someone finally start sending in documents. Following Mr. Hale's death, Emiliano apparently became the oldest man in the world, with documents supplied so far including a birth certificate, baptismal certificate, 1910 census record, and veteran ID card. By January 2005, Guinness had accepted Emiliano as the "oldest living man whose age could be fully authenticated".
In addition, Emiliano Mercado del Toro was 27 years old in October 1918 when the U.S. Army drafted him to serve in World War I. As a veteran of World War I he broke the record for longest-lived veteran of any military force, previously set by Antonio Todde (Mercado was still at a training camp in Panama when the November 11, 1918 armistice was declared). Mercado was discharged the following month, when he was still 27.
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