112-year-old Puerto Rican is the oldest living man in the world, according to Guinness World Records

(CNN) – A former sugarcane farmer from Puerto Rico was confirmed as the oldest man in the world by Guinness World Records, just weeks after his 113th birthday.

Emilio Flores Márquez was born on August 8, 1908, in Carolina, Puerto Rico, so on Wednesday, when Guinness World Records announced the record, he was 112 years old and 326 days old.

Growing up, Márquez, who was the second oldest of 11 children, took care of many household chores and helped care for his younger siblings.

As a first-born, Márquez also helped on his father’s sugar cane farm – since he was a child – and watered the plants and loaded cut sugar cane into wagons for transport, according to a Guinness World Records press release. .

“I was the oldest of the children, so I did everything,” Marquez told Guinness World Records. “I cleaned, looked after the children, did everything.”

He kept farming, “becoming the way to support his family,” according to Guinness World Records.

Márquez was married to Andrea Pérez for 75 years until his death in 2010. The couple had four children. He also has five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, according to Guinness World Records.

He now lives in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, with his two surviving children, Tirsa and “Millito.”

Márquez, who lost most of his hearing, underwent surgery to have a pacemaker implanted when he was 101 years old, but he is still strong and in good health, according to the press release.

Known as “Don Millo,” Márquez’s key to a happy life is “having an abundance of love and living life without anger,” the press release says.

“My father raised me with love, loving everyone,” Marquez’s family told Guinness World Records. “He always told me and my brothers to do good, to share everything with others.”

The previous Guinness record for the oldest man and the current oldest person in the world

The previous oldest living man recognized by Guinness World Records was the Romanian Dumitru Comănescu. He died on June 27, 2020, less than a month after receiving the record, at the age of 111 years and 219 days.

Following his passing, Guinness World Records claimed to have “received evidence” in support of Márquez, who was born three months before Comănescu.

The oldest person on Earth is Kane Takana, 118, who lives in a nursing home in Fukuoka, Japan. In March, his grandson stated to CNN that Takana aspires to break the record for the oldest person in history, who flaunts Jeanne Louise Calment, a French woman who died at the age of 122.