Manoel Angelim Dino, 105, and Maria de Sousa Dino, 101, married in 1940 and welcomed 13 children together
By Erin Clack
A couple in Brazil has reached an incredible milestone: —, breaking the Guinness World Record for the longest marriage of a living couple.
The record has been confirmed by LongeviQuest, a global database that tracks the life and times of the world’s oldest people.
According to the company, as of Feb. 5, 2025, Manoel Angelim Dino, 105, and wife Maria de Sousa Dino, 101, were verified as having been married for 84 years and 77 days.
The couple, from the rural municipality of Boa Viagem in the northeastern state of Ceará, first met around 1936 while working in agriculture alongside their respective families.
Manoel had travelled to the Almeida region in Boa Viagem to collect a shipment of rapaduras, a traditional Brazilian candy, when he first crossed paths with Maria.
While nothing came of that initial meeting, the pair were brought together again years later and their decades-long love story began. They married in November 1940 when Manoel was 21 and Maria was 17.
According to LongeviQuest, it was love at first sight for Manoel — but Maria’s mother was opposed to the relationship at the start.
Undeterred, a smitten Manoel patiently worked to win over his future-in-laws, even beginning to build a home for the family he hoped to start with Maria.
Following their marriage, Manoel and Maria both worked in agriculture, cultivating rolled tobacco. They went on to welcome 13 children (nine of whom are still living) and, later, 55 grandchildren, 60 great-grandchildren and 14 great-great-grandchildren.
These days, the couple enjoys a quiet life at home together. Due to his age, Manoel spends much of his time resting, according to LongeviQuest, but gets up every evening to join his wife for a special nightly tradition —The two sit beside each other and listen to the rosary prayer on the radio and then watch a mass on TV.
Asked what they believe the secret is to their long and happy marriage, Maria — who celebrated her latest birthday with a butterfly-adorned cake — had a simple answer: love.
The previous record for the longest-living marriage was held by American couple Herbert Fisher, born in 1905, and Zelmyra Fisher, born in 1907, according to Guinness World Records.
They were married for 86 years and 290 days until Herbert’s death in February 2011.
In 2010, former President Barack Obama honoured the couple with a signed commendation.
The longest-ever marriage recorded was that of David Jacob Hiller, born in 1789, and Sarah Davy Hiller, born in 1792. The U.S. couple were wed for 88 years and 349 days until Sarah’s 1898 death at the age of 106.
