Birth
20 March 1903Poggio Imperiale, Apulia, ItalyDeath
18 June 2019Poggio Imperiale, Apulia, ItalyAge
116
Maria Giuseppa Robucci
Maria Giuseppa Robucci-Nargiso was an Italian supercentenarian who, at the time of her death, was the oldest living person in Europe, and the second-oldest validated living person in the world, behind Kane Tanaka.
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Biography
Robucci, affectionately known as ‘Nonna Peppa’, was born in 1903 in Poggio Imperiale in the Foggia province of Apulia region, Italy. Her parents were Antonio and Maria Michela Robucci. On 3 December 1928, she married Nicola Nargiso, who died in 1982. The Nargiso family reportedly suffered financially in the years after World War II.
Robucci and her husband had five children: Angelo, Concetta (who later became a nun named Sister Nicoletta), Antonio, Giuseppe, and Filomena.
In 2003, Robucci’s 100th birthday was featured in a television show called La vita in diretta for the channel Rai Uno. At the time, she was still able to chop wood. At the age of 111, she was still able to walk, but in 2014 she broke her hip after a fall and underwent surgery. In July 2017, at the age of 114, she underwent breast surgery at the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza.
On 26 May 2019, at the age of 116, Robucci voted in that year’s European Parliament election. She died in Poggio Imperiale, Apulia, Italy on 18 June 2019 at the age of 116 years, 90 days. She credited her longevity to a good diet, having faith in God, avoiding alcohol, and having a positive mindset.
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At the time of her death, Robucci was the third-oldest European whose age had been validated by the Gerontology Research Group.
At 116 years, 90 days, she remains the second-oldest Italian person ever recorded, after Emma Morano.
She was also the last confirmed European person born in 1903, as well as the second to last validated person born in 1903 overall, behind Kane Tanaka of Japan.