Published 11:18 IST, August 2nd 2020

World War II veteran Giuseppe Paterno becomes Italy’s oldest student at 96

A 96-year-old World War II veteran became Italy's oldest university graduate. Giuseppe Paterno completed his undergraduate degree in History and Philosophy.

World News
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A 96-year-old World War II veteran became Italy's oldest university graduate. Giuseppe Paterno completed his undergraduate degree in History and Philosophy from the University of Palermo and rightly proved that it’s never too late to start something and accomplish one's dreams.

Paterno grew up reading books but was not able to attend university in his youth. The war veteran grew up in a poor family in Sicily and only received basic education as a child. However, after realising that it was 'now or never', Paterno graduated high school at the age of 31 and later enrolled for the undergraduate course in 2017 when he was already in his 90's, as per agency report.

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Paterno joined the navy to serve in World War II before going to work in the railways. He later got married and has two children. As a student, he always preferred textbooks over Google and would type out his essays on a typewriter. The oldest graduate also admitted that he faced a little difficulty with a video that replaced the classroom due to Covid-19 and said that the pandemic did not put him off his goal, after all he has survived the World War.

As Paterno finally achieved his degree, his next future plan is to devote himself to writing. His goal is to revisit all the texts he didn't have a chance to read.

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