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World's oldest person dies at age 114

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 22 (UPI) -- A Brazilian woman named a month ago as the world's oldest person has died in a hospital at the age of 114, her family said.

Maria Gomes Valentim, acknowledged a month ago to be the oldest person by the Guinness Book of Records, died Tuesday at a hospital in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais after being admitted Sunday with pneumonia, the Latin American Herald Tribune reported.

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Valentim, known as "Vo Quita" or Grandma Quita, would have turned 115 on July 9. She was born in 1896, documents verified last month by Guinness showed.

She had one son with a husband who died in 1946 and leaves four grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren.

In an interview with Guinness officials, Valentim had attributed her longevity to a healthy diet, an occasional glass of milk with linseed oil, and heredity, since her father lived to be 100, she said.

Guinness officials said Valentim was born 48 days before U.S. resident Besse Cooper, previously considered the oldest and who now again holds the world record.

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