Venere Pizzinato

Venere Pizzinato (23 November 1896 – 2 August 2011) was an Italian supercentenarian who was the oldest verified person from Italy, living to the age of 114 years, 252 days. She became one of the ten oldest living people in March 2010. Pizzinato was also the oldest person ever to have been born in the Austrian-Hungarian empire. At the time of her death, Pizzinato was the 3rd oldest living person in the world, one of the 10 oldest Europeans ever, and one of the 40 oldest people ever verified in world history. At the time of her death she was the oldest person ever from Italy, a title she held until 13 December 2011 when she was surpassed by Dina Manfredini. She was born in Ala, Trentino, then part of the Austrian-Hungarian empire, on 23 November 1896. In 1902 the family moved to Verona, where they had relatives. In 1903, the family moved back to Trentino were Pizzinato attended a boarding school in its capital city, Trento. World War I forced Pizzinato to take refuge in Bazzano, Bologna. After the war she moved back to Milan were she took Italian citizenship and met her future husband Isidoro Papo. During the outbreak of World War II, in 1939, the couple moved to Nice, France, to escape the Fascist regime of Benito Mussolini. They married in France, and after the war, they moved back to Milan. Upon retirement in 1964, the couple moved to Verona, where they finally settled. Mr. Papo died in 1981. The couple never had any children. Pizzinato remained in Verona for the rest of her life; at the time of her death, she lived in a retirement home there. On 23 November 2010, marking her 114th birthday, Pizzinato was visited by Italy's president Giorgio Napolitano, who wrote her a letter with the words "In this happy and special occasion I would like to send, on behalf of all Italians, sincere congratulations and good wishes of serenity with her loved ones and people around the community Saint Catherine in Verona".