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03/09/2026 7:56 am
https://longeviquest.com/2026/09/deolira-griceria-pedro-da-silva-121-anos/
Official Statement Regarding the Longevity Claim of Mrs. Deolira Gricéria Pedro da Silva
Clarification Regarding the Longevity Claim of Mrs. Deolira Gricéria Pedro da Silva
Official statement from LongeviQuest regarding the claim that Deolira Gricéria Pedro da Silva, reportedly born on March 10, 1905.
LongeviQuest is issuing this public statement to provide clarification regarding the extraordinary longevity claim of Mrs. Deolira Gricéria Pedro da Silva, whose reported date of birth is March 10, 1905, which would currently correspond to an age of 121 years.
In light of the attention this case has received and the requests for clarification, we believe it is important to transparently present the results of our investigation and the criteria used to evaluate the available documentation.
LongeviQuest conducts its validations based on a comprehensive chronological analysis, seeking to establish a person’s identity and age through documents corresponding to different periods of their life. Among the most important forms of evidence are birth and/or baptismal records contemporaneous with the person’s birth, documents from the intermediate period of life—such as marriage records—and later official documents that can demonstrate continuity of identity.
Investigation History
LongeviQuest has been investigating this case since March 2024.
Over the course of approximately one year, extensive searches were conducted for parish records in the vicinity of Porciúncula (her reported place of birth) and in neighboring municipalities in Minas Gerais, with the objective of locating a baptismal record contemporaneous with the claimed birth.
Despite these efforts, no original baptismal record corresponding to the claimed birth on March 10, 1905, was located.
The analysis identified, in particular, two fundamental documentary issues.
Late Civil Registration
The currently existing civil birth registration was created only on January 11, 1977, when, based on the claimed date of birth, Mrs. Deolira would have been approximately 72 years old.
It is therefore a record produced many decades after the claimed birth and does not constitute a record contemporaneous with the event it purports to document.
For such an extraordinary longevity claim, a late registration, by itself, does not carry the same evidentiary weight as documentation produced around the time of birth and independently of statements made decades later.
Absence of the Original Baptismal Record
No original baptismal record contemporaneous with the birth was located either.
Subsequently, a document entitled “Justificação de Batismo e de Estado Livre” (“Justification of Baptism and Free Marital Status”) was presented, dated September 17, 2025.
This document does not constitute a baptismal record produced in 1905. Rather, it is later documentation based on statements and sworn testimony from family members, including a daughter (aged 88) and a daughter-in-law (aged 80) of Mrs. Deolira.
Although such testimony may be relevant to understanding the family’s history, for purposes of validating an extreme age, it does not substitute for the existence of primary documentation contemporaneous with the events in question.
LongeviQuest’s Conclusion
What we can state, based on the documentation currently available, is that there is insufficient evidence to substantiate this date of birth according to the standards required for validation by LongeviQuest.
We emphasize that LongeviQuest remains open to analyzing and verifying any new documents that may be presented in the future.
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03/09/2026 1:35 pm
I don't think her claimed age is fully true, but I believe she is very close to it. My gut feeling tells me she is a year younger and born on 10 March 1906, which would make her 120.
03/09/2026 2:27 pm
I don't think her claimed age is fully true, but I believe she is very close to it. My gut feeling tells me she is a year younger and born on 10 March 1906, which would make her 120.
Fortunately, extreme age validation is not based on anyone's "gut feeling".
ESO Correspondent for Hungary (since 2020)
GRG Correspondent for Hungary (2020-2023)
Tracker and researcher of Hungarian and other Central European (super)centenarians (since 2016)
Enthusiast of extreme longevity (since childhood)
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03/09/2026 10:39 pm
It just looks like a typical extreme longevity claim really.
Nothing solid behind it for now - and even assuming the best and sincere intentions from family members over the years, - probably none can speak definitively for her age.
Whilst not objective evidence, it would be interesting to know why you feel she is likely to be so very old Phil.
As a simple example, if the 88 year old daughter was in fact her oldest child, she could still be some years short of 110.
This post was modified 3 weeks ago by ChrisR
04/09/2026 4:23 am
@chrisr The 88-year-old is not her oldest child. She also has a 91-year-old daughter. Plus, two of her granddaughters are reportedly aged 65/66 and 61/62. The gaps between generations are near uniform. That's a good sign the case is either correct or close to it. (Just look at the six generations photo for Sarah Knauss. All the generations were 22-24 year gaps.)
It also helps Deolira's case that she is a great-great grandmother. If we can get ages of the oldest great grandchildren, especially if they are in their 30s, it would help the strengthen the case.
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04/09/2026 4:47 am
Hopefully we can get some of this evidence Phil.
I fear though that it would still only represent secondary evidence (rather than prime evidence) for what would typically be considered an extraordinary claim (+ or - 120 yrs old), hence requires very strong proof.
Best wishes to those working on it.
In the perfect world that oldest child would be circa 99, providing supportive evidence for an age likely at, or above 115.
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04/09/2026 5:43 am
@chrisr The 88-year-old is not her oldest child. She also has a 91-year-old daughter. Plus, two of her granddaughters are reportedly aged 65/66 and 61/62. The gaps between generations are near uniform. That's a good sign the case is either correct or close to it. (Just look at the six generations photo for Sarah Knauss. All the generations were 22-24 year gaps.)
It also helps Deolira's case that she is a great-great grandmother. If we can get ages of the oldest great grandchildren, especially if they are in their 30s, it would help the strengthen the case.
Not really. Women back then were more likely to become mothers in their teens. If the 91 year old is the oldest, Deolira could be as young as 107. Also, there have been many people in their 70s with SC grandparents. And a person can be a great-great-grandmother in their 70s so that doesn't mean much I'm afraid.
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04/09/2026 6:54 am
Marie Louise Meilleur is described as having 3 great, great, great grandchildren.
That means your own grandchild is a great- grandparent.
Numerous others (Eg Maria Valentim) were certainly great, great grandmothers.
And as foreshadowed above a single generation age gap can quite comfortably sit between say 16 and 40+ years.
This post was modified 3 weeks ago by ChrisR
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04/09/2026 10:45 am
Agreed what everything that's been said, especially @chrisr referring to age of children/grandchildren/etc. as secondary evidence at best in a case such as this. Generation lengths within a family, as it has been said, can vary wildly, and are dependent on a variety of factors (early deaths of eldest children in a generation, early/late in life marriages, any fertility issues, anyone delaying starting a family for their own reasons, and so on). In my own family, for instance, my maternal grandmother became a first-time grandmother at 72, but had a relation (generations earlier, granted, but these situations still happen in the modern day) who became a first-time grandmother aged 36.
ESO Correspondent for Portugal (since 2026)
____
When the young commander of the guard declared his love for her, she rejected him simply because his frivolity startled her. "See how simple he is," she told Amaranta. "He says that he’s dying because of me, as if I were a bad case of colic."
-One Hundred Years of Solitude
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