Marcelino Abad Tolentino, better known as Mashico, believed to be the world’s oldest person, died on Monday aged 125 years and 300 days, just five days shy of his 126th birthday
A farmer believed to be the world’s oldest person has passed away aged 125 years and 300 days.
Marcelino Abad Tolentino, commonly known as Mashico, spent his entire life in a remote Peruvian village. The government’s Pension 65 programme discovered him during the Covid-19 pandemic and he was issued his first identity document along with a state pension.
He became a nationally recognised figure at this time. Soon after joining the programme, Mashico sustained an accident which caused a severe hip injury and required a wheelchair for mobility. The state pension he was awarded was paid directly to a nursing home to meet his accommodation costs, medical treatment and meals.
Mashico, who grew up as an orphan, died peacefully in his sleep at the care facility on Monday, merely five days before his 126th birthday.
He was regarded as the oldest man in Peru, potentially worldwide, but never received official recognition from Guinness World Records owing to insufficient documentation throughout the years.
He was born in a remote village in central Peru’s Huánuco Province in 1900. He lost his parents at an early age and endured extreme poverty for most of his existence.
Mashico worked his own plot by hand and exchanged his farm produce with fellow villagers, according to Creatorzine.com. He existed in isolation, without electricity or running water and relied on a small oil lamp for illumination.
He never married or had children and remained outside official systems until authorities located him during the pandemic. Following this, Mashico was enrolled in state-assistance schemes and provided with food, medical care and accommodation in a nursing home.
Two years ago, the Peruvian government initiated the procedure of registering him as the world’s oldest man with Guinness World Records, but the process remained incomplete.
According to officials from the Pension 65 programme, the application became complex due to requirements for birth documentation.
According to Guinness World Records, the oldest man who ever lived was Juan Vicente Pérez Mora who passed away in April 2024 at the age of 114 and 311 days.
The oldest man currently alive is 113 year old Brazilian João Marinho Neto.
The oldest living person is Ethel Caterham from the UK who is presently 116 years old.