Rosa Micaela Puertas, Argentina’s Second-Oldest Living Person, Validated at 113

Rosa Micaela Puertas Quiroga, the second-oldest living person in Argentina, has been officially validated by LongeviQuest on 31 August. At the age of 113 years, 336 days, she is also the world’s 10th-oldest living person.

Puertas Quiroga was born in the neighborhood of Boedo of Buenos Aires City, Argentina, on 29 September 1912 to parents Victoriano Puertas Herrero, a Spanish immigrant, and Rosa Quiroga López, a native of Salta Province. Her father taught her how to read, write, and do math. As a child, she worked extensively, assisting her family with everyday chores. Her father succumbed to the Spanish flu. As his final wish to protect his family from the disease, he entrusted his wife with traveling to Europe along with their five children. At the age of 9, she arrived to Castilla la Vieja in Spain.

As a young woman, she moved from Valladolid to Madrid, where she met her husband, Franz (Francisco) Elbl, an Austrian pastry chef in the service of King Alfonso XIII. He had learned to make chocolate, bonbons, and pastries in Vienna and was hired at a confectionery shop in Madrid that served the kings of Spain. They met in the city and got married in March 1935. He was ten years her senior.

With the outbreak of the Civil War (1936–39), they were compelled to return to her native Argentina. Their first child had just been born, and although her husband had the opportunity to work in Austria, they perceived that all of Europe was in turmoil, on the brink of World War II, and she didn’t speak German. Advised by the Argentine embassy, they decided to return to her homeland. They left behind most of their belongings and returned to Argentina as war refugees. Drawing on his experience as a chocolatier, her husband found employment at the Noel factory in Argentina, and later at the Suchard company. There, he focused primarily on crafting recipes for Sugus candies. It was he who instructed the factory workers on how to create candied Sugus.

Her age was verified by Stefan Maglov, Sergio Tonarelli and Fabrizio Villatoro. We also congratulate Mrs. Rosa Micaela Puertas and wish her many more years of health and happiness.