Thaindian News

By Madhuri Dey
Moscow, Russia, July 10, (THAINDIAN NEWS) Antisa Khvichava of Georgia on Thursday celebrated not her 80th or her 100th birthday but her 130th birthday along with family members and officials who had come to see the proof of her age. The family claims if proven true then she would become the oldest person to have lived in this earth. The Guinness Book of World Record for the category of the oldest person is held by a Japanese lady who breathed her last a week before her 115th birthday.

There are many documents that testify the age of Antisa Khvichava to be 130. Her pension book, Soviet-era pass book and some notes in archives testify that she was born in July 8, 1880. However, like many others, the Birth certificate of Antisa Khvichava got lost during revolutions and wars. The lady, who retired from her work back in 1965 at the age of 85 now lives with her son Mikheil and many grandchildren in a remote Georgia mountain village. On July 8, Antisa Khvichava who now keeps to the bed for most of the time rose to welcome the visitors and guests. She said that although she feels weak, she does not want to stay in bed. Her son Mikheil wished his mother a long life.

However, some experts have cast doubt on the claims made by the lady and her family. Although the Georgian Officials said that the documents attest for the age of Antisa Khvichava, Stephen Coles a lecturer and member of the Gerontology Research Group in University of California has said that documents dating to the time of her birth are required. Stephen Coles who assists the Guinness Book of World Record said that if such a document is not found then “this claim will remain a curiosity in a newspaper floating on the Internet”.