A generationIf the remote mountain village of Perdasdefogu needs to ensure a stable supply at all times, it is birthday candles. This year, 500 cakes are needed to decorate the birthday cakes of 5 100-year-old residents.
Each milestone usually means a celebration for the entire town. The mayor Mariano Carta presented the centenarian with a medal, who often recalled the details of life in the past century with amazing sobriety.
“Whenever a citizen celebrates his 100th birthday, it is as if there is a piece of history in front of me, a living monument,” Carta said. “The small stories told by these people are intertwined with the big stories. I feel very lucky.”
Some of this history is reflected in 16 photos of centenarians, both alive and deceased, all lined up on the walls on both sides of the main road in the town. There is also Vittorio Palmas, who survived the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp during World War II and died in 2019 at the age of 105. There is also a mural dedicated to the longest-lived citizen of the town so far- Consorata MelisHe died in 2015 at the age of 108.
Consorata is the eldest of the nine siblings who became famous after marching in 2012. Guinness World Records As the oldest living brothers and sisters on earth, their total age is 818 years old.
Her sister Claudina died in 2016 at the age of 103, followed by Maria at the age of 100 and Antonio at the age of 97. Another sibling, Concetta, turned 100 in February.
Perdasdefogu is a stone block at the entrance of a small town that is located high in the rugged mountains of southeastern Sardinia and can only be accessed by a narrow winding road. It reads a message celebrating the Melis brothers and sisters: “Perdasdefogu, family World record for longevity”.
The next sibling who wants to be a centenarian is 98-year-old Adolf. The youngest three in the family-Vitalio, 90 years old; 89-year-old Fida and 87-year-old Mafalda, known as the “baby”, live in Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia.
Their parents are Francesco Melis and Eleonora Mameli, who served during the First World War. She gave birth to so many children in 1939. The child received a medal from the Fascist government of Benito Mussolini. There are 11 in total; two are not adults.
But the Melis family is not the only one who lives forever. Perdasdefogu currently lives with 8 centenarians—four men and four women—with a population of 1,740. In the next few years, another 10 citizens may be 100 years old.
Throughout Italy, the number of people who live to be 100 years or older Is rising rapidlyAccording to Istat, the National Bureau of Statistics, as of January 1, 2021, there were 17,935 centenarians, up from 14,456 in 2019 and 11,000 in 2009.
Sardinia has determine As one of the five regions with a high concentration of centenarians in the world. There are 534 people who are 100 years old or older, or 33.6 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Perdasdefogu is unique in that in its size towns, the number of centenarians is 13 times the national average.
“Of course there is fresh air and delicious food, but I believe that one of the reasons for their longevity is the way they cope with stress,” said Luisa Salaris, professor of demography at the University of Cagliari. “They were born 100 years ago, of course life is not easy-there will be hunger and war. But they are people who can adapt-if there is a problem, they will solve it quickly.”
Not long ago, Adolfo Melis served drinks in the bar opened by his father in 1958.
Sitting on the bench in the square next to the bar, Adolf thought of the murmurs of his brothers and sisters sitting around the dining table, and his eyes lit up.
“The table was a little longer,” he said. “We all get along well, rarely quarrel…maybe this is one of the reasons we have lived so long.”
Regardless of family relations, Adolf, who worked on the farm when he was young, firmly believes that the main reason for their longevity is diet. Food is scarce—Perdasdefogu protested against food shortages a year before Consorata was born—but their father was the first person to build a vegetable garden in the town.
Before Perdasdefogu was connected to the water pipe in the early 1960s, water from the garden had to be drawn from the well.
“Everything we eat comes from the garden,” Adolf said. “What you put in your stomach is important-if you abuse your stomach, it won’t resist.”
Adolf said that there is a lot of meat in the local diet, as well as some fish (about an hour’s drive from the sea), but the trick is to “eat less, but eat authentic food.”
He said his family is always physically active, especially working in agriculture. But they are also businessmen. “All three of my sisters have shops,” he added.
At the age of 102, Bonino Lai is still the chairman of the Perdasdefogu football team. He lives in a simple apartment with his wife Elena and one of his two daughters. Bonino was an office clerk before retiring, and he said it was simple activities that kept him going. “Reading, walking, playing cards… Simple things are the best things.”
Perdasdefogu is remote and most of the population is elderly, but this does not mean that the town is not lively. It hosts many cultural events throughout the year, including literary festivals. The locals believe that books have played a certain role in the longevity of residents.Next to the photo of Vittorio Palmas, he is holding a copy of Gabriel Garcia’s A hundred years of loneliness, Is a sign that says: “Reading keeps you alive”.
The literary festival is organized by Giacomo Mameli, who is the distant cousin of the Melis brothers and sisters, who is still a reporter at the age of 80.
At a recent event in July, 103-year-old Antonio Brundu stood in the front row to listen to a discussion with Jonathan Hopkin, professor of political science at the London School of Economics. Other elderly people are equally active-99-year-old Vittorio Lai is still driving and hunting wild boars.
“Our environmental conditions play a vital role,” Mameli said. “We live in a place with fresh air. Our centenarians are constantly moving in a healthy environment-collecting firewood or handling their distribution.
“Another important factor is that Perdasdefogu protects the sense of community. The elderly still live at home, not in nursing homes. Social interaction is so important because if you have good social relationships, you will remember, talk and evaluate… you Live well.”
