It is often said that love is easy, but marriage is tough work. However, it looks like a couple in Brazil has cracked the code for a long and happy marriage. Meet 105-year-old Manoel Angelim Dino and his 101-year-old wife Maria de Sousa Dino, who have set a new Guinness World Record for having having the longest marriage for a living couple. Manoel and Maria have been married for 84 years, and they have over 100 grandchildren together. So what’s the secret to their successful marriage? Read more about them here:
How Manoel met Maria
As per the Guinness World Records, Manoel was born in 1919 and his wife Maria was born in 1923 (her maiden name being Almeida de Souza). The duo had a chanced meeting in 1936, when they were working in agriculture for their respective families. Back then, Manoel had travelled to Brazil’s Boa Viagem district to collect a shipment of a traditional Brazilian candy called rapaduras. It was during this time that he met Maria for the first time. However, the duo lost touch. Roughly four years later, Manoel met Maria for the second time and it was then that their relationship blossomed. Manoel fell in love with Maria and he proposed to her; Maria too accepted his love.
But Maria’s mother was skeptical of their relationship at first. This pushed Manoel to prove his love for Maria; he started building a home for them and soon Maria’s family agreed to their relationship. In 1940, Manoel and Maria got married at the chapel of Boa Ventura in Ceará, Brazil and this was the beginning of their lifelong commitment to each other.
Over the years, Manoel and Maria’s family grew and they had 13 children, 55 grandchildren, 60 great-grandchildren, and 14 great-great-grandchildren together! The couple worked together and cultivated rolled tobacco to support their family.
On Valentine’s Day in 2025, Manoel and Maria completed 84 years and 77 days of marriage together. And nine of their 13 children are still living, a post by Longeviquest confirmed recently.
The couple, both of whom are over a 100 years old, spend “time together every day, listening to the rosary prayer on the radio followed by Mass on television,” reads the post.
So, what’s the secret to their long and happy marriage? When asked, Maria revealed that “the only ‘secret’ to a long and happy marriage is love.”
What are your views on Manoel and Maria’s heart-touching love and commitment to each other? Do you think love is enough for marriages to survive the test of time? Tell us your views in the comments section below.
