Inah Canabarro Lucas, aged 115 years and 257 days, is currently the oldest living person in Brazil and Latin America, and also the oldest nun in the world. According to the LongeviQuest world rankings, Sister Inah Canabaro is the fourth oldest living person in the world.
On February 16, 2024, the LongeviQuest team had the honor of visiting Sister Inah Canabarro, recognizing her as the longest living person in Brazil and celebrating her life as a nun. Ms. Iara Souza, LongeviQuest researcher in Brazil, began the interview and congratulated Sister Inah. She addressed themes and questions from her childhoood, including her youth as a band coordinator. Sister Inah said she has a lot of faith in God and praying every day makes her happy. LongeviQuest América President Fabrizio Villatoro concluded the interview with questions about Sister Inah’s long life and her secrets of longevity. Villatoro and Souza presented two awards to Sister Inah, one recognizing her status as Brazil’s oldest person and the other commemorating her status as the world’s oldest nun.
Inah Canabarro Lucas was born in São Francisco de Assis, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on June 8, 1908, the daughter of João Antonio Lucas and Mariana Canabarro Lucas. Although she claims to have been born on May 27, 1908, research indicates that she was probably born 11 days later. As a child, she was so thin that many people didn’t think she would survive childhood. She is the great-granddaughter of General David Canabarro. Her father died in combat in 1923.
Canabarro Lucas studied at the Santa Teresa de Jesus boarding school in Santana do Livramento, Rio Grande do Sul. Around 1928, she moved to Montevideo, Uruguay, where she became a nun. In 1930, she returned to Brazil to teach Portuguese and mathematics at a school in the Tijuca district of Rio de Janeiro. In the early 1940s, she returned to Santana do Livramento, where she worked as a teacher. Canabarro Lucas currently lives in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, at the age of 115. At the age of 110, she began to have some difficulties walking and had to start using a walker. She credits her longevity to God.
Inah Canabarro currently lives in a provincial house of the Teresian Sisters and is often visited by her great-nephews. Inah has problems with her eyesight and hearing, but she is still in very good health and loves to receive visitors.
LongeviQuest (LQ) is the world’s leading authority on human longevity. The organization was founded in 2022 as a collaboration between the world’s leading experts in age validation, with professional researchers in Europe, Asia and the Americas. In its brief history, LongeviQuest has already validated the first recognized supercentenarians in India and the Philippines. More information, including the largest database of validated living supercentenarians, can be found at LongeviQuest.com
