At 119, Leonora Masima Noel is Grenada’s oldest citizen

Grenada’s oldest citizen, Leonora Masima Noel, on December 10, celebrated her 119^th birthday. To mark the milestone, Noel was joined by the island nation’s Minister for Carriacou and Petite Martinique Affairs and Local Government, Kindra Maturine-Stewart, as well as some staff from the ministry’s Department of Social Development to celebrate the day, Loop News Caribbean reported.

The supercentenarian, who was reportedly honored by Queen Elizabeth in 2016, was born in Venezuela but moved to Carriacou – an island dependency of Grenada – at a young age. Though it is argued Noel is the oldest person alive, there are no official documents to back that claim as her date of birth is unknown.

Maturine-Stewart, however, said following the visit that the government is still continuing with its effort in digging up evidence to corroborate the claim. Speaking about the various foods that have kept her going and fit, Noel said her diet includes coo-coo (cornmeal), fish as well as other organic meals.

Noel is four years older than Charles Edward James, Jamaica’s oldest citizen who passed away in September. Fondly known as “Maas Tata”, the supercentenarian never got to be officially recognized for his status as one of the world’s oldest living people after reaching the milestone because the documents proving his age could not be verified, local newspaper The Gleaner reported.

In 2019, a birth certificate and manifest reportedly belonging to the supercentenarian that his family retrieved from a ship that docked in Jamaica in 1943, reportedly corroborated his supposed date of birth, according to The Star. There was, however, a reported difference with regards to his age on his marriage certificate. His family said at the time that they will go to the island nation’s Registrar General’s Department to verify his age.

Grenada’s Noel is also two years older than the late Violet Brown. Also a Jamaican, Brown briefly held the title for the oldest, officially verified living person in the world after the death of previous Italian holder, Emma Morano, in April 2017. Brown held the title for a period of five months until her death in Montego Bay the same year.