The world's oldest man died in Spain on Tuesday at the age of 112, local media reported.
Saturnino de la Fuente's life "went out like a candle in a few seconds," the Europa Press news agency and other media quoted relatives of the man as saying.
He died in the city of Leon, about 300 kilometres north-west of Madrid, at the home of one of his daughters.
The Spaniard, who was only 1.5 metres tall, had been listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest man on the planet since 10 September last year, after the death of Puerto Rican Emilio Flores.
In less than a month, on 12 February, he would have turned 113. Three of his eight children have passed away before him.
De la Fuente had been in relatively good physical and mental health until the end.
Condor legion attack in 1937
His long life included tales of hardship and endurance. According to reports, his worst experience was in 1937, when he survived under the rubble of a house that had been completely destroyed by the crash of a German Condor Legion fighter plane during the Spanish Civil War. The Condor Legion supported the putschist leader and later dictator Francisco Franco.
The trained cobbler and long-time owner of a shoe factory had been a die-hard football fan, former player and honorary member of the Puente Castro FC club.
"Pepino," as de la Fuente was called by relatives and friends, was also the first person to be vaccinated against the coronavirus in the province of Leon at the end of 2020.
