Europe’s Oldest Man Dies in Italy at 112

Vitantonio Lovallo died on Tuesday at the age of 112 in Avigliano, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata.

Born in 1914, Lovallo celebrated his final birthday on 25 March. He lived in Sarnelli, a hamlet of Avigliano, where Mayor Giuseppe Mecca described him as a “living and precious memory” of the local community.

Lovallo began working at 16, first as a shepherd and helping his family grow wheat and corn. He later became a mule driver, transporting goods across difficult terrain.

He remained remarkably active into old age. At 103, he was still taking his flock out to pasture every morning, and he continued tending his vineyard until he was 106. He stopped working only a few years before his death.

During World War II, Lovallo fought on the front lines and was held as a prisoner of war by the Germans from 1943 to 1945. He and his wife, who died several years ago, had four children.

His funeral will take place on Thursday morning at the Church of San Vincenzo Ferrer in Sarnelli. He will be buried in the cemetery in Lagopesola.

According to the Gerontology Research Group, Lovallo’s death leaves 111-year-old Joaquim Varela of Portugal as Europe’s oldest living man. Varela nevertheless ranks behind 31 women on the group’s overall list of Europe’s oldest living people.

(bild, bak)