ROME, Sept 16 (Bernama-dpa) — Vitantonio Lovallo, Europe’s oldest man, has died at the age of 112, authorities in Avigliano in the southern Italian region of Basilicata announced on Wednesday, reported German Press Agency (dpa).
The former sheep farmer, who lived in the town east of Naples, was born in March 1914, months before the start of World War I. Even after turning 100, “Ziton”, as he was nicknamed, continued to tend his own vineyard.
“Avigliano has lost a part of its history today,” Avigliano Mayor Giuseppe Mecca wrote on Facebook. “Ziton was one of us.”
Lovallo’s wife died several years ago. The couple had four children.
During World War II, Lovallo initially served at the front. According to Italian media reports, he was held as a prisoner of war in Germany from 1943 to 1945.
According to a list maintained by the Gerontology Research Group, Europe’s oldest man is now Portugal’s Joaquim Varela, aged 111. However, in the ranking of Europe’s oldest people, he is only in 32nd place behind 31 women.
The same list reports that the oldest person in Europe and in the world is British woman Ethel Caterham, who is 117 years old.
— BERNAMA-dpa