BELARUS: 122 YEAR-OLD WOMAN LIVING NEAR INFAMOUS CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER STATION CLAIMS TO BE OLDEST WOMAN IN EX-SOVIET UNION

Record ID: 216066

  • Title: BELARUS: 122 YEAR-OLD WOMAN LIVING NEAR INFAMOUS CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER STATION CLAIMS TO BE OLDEST WOMAN IN EX-SOVIET UNION
  • Date: 17th November 2000
  • Summary: NIZHNIYE ZHARY VILLAGE, GOMEL REGION, BELARUS (NOVEMBER 17, 2000) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. LV: BARN THROUGH PINE TREES 0.05 2. MV: EXTERIOR OF THE HOUSE 0.11 3. SCU: BUCKET HANGING ON ROPE 0.16 4. MV: CLOTHES DRYING ON ROPE 0.20 5. SV: TROUGH WITH WATER 0.24 6. MV: YEVDOKIA KRIMENYUK ENTERING HOUSE 0.31 7. M
  • Embargoed: 2nd December 2000 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NIZHNIYE ZHARY VILLAGE, GOMEL REGION, BELARUS
  • Country: Belarus
  • Reuters ID: LVA1ZDYXDZJ59YN09D8K836K46K6
  • Story Text: A woman claiming to be 122 years-old is living in a
    Belarus village affected by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear
    accident.


    Maria Sharaya is claimed to be the oldest woman in
    the ex-Soviet Union and maybe in the world. According to her
    passport she was born 122 years ago, in 1878, in the village
    of Nizniye Zhary bordering with Ukraine. She was the second
    child in the family of seven children.

    At 122 years of age, Maria is virtually helpless, sleeps a
    lot, but can still move around without assistance. She
    outlived her husband and her four children who died a long
    time ago.

    She lives with her youngest sister Yevdokia Klimenyuk, who
    is 88. Yevdokia was born in 1912. Depite her age she is still
    very active and takes good care of Maria. She has a clear mind
    and does all the household work herself.

    The two sisters live in a dilapidated house in a small village,
    400 km south of the capital Minsk and only 10 km away
    from the infamous Chernobyl nuclear station. After the nuclear
    accident in April 1986, the area surrounding the village
    received heavy contamination.

    Many young people left and the rest, mostly elderly,
    stayed on. The once rich collective farm is now almost ruined
    but is still functioning. The nearest hospital is about 40 km
    away but Maria Zharaya's sister says they are fine without
    doctors.

    Local villagers say they are not eager to reach Maria's
    age although they admire and respect her for her longevity.

    Some doubt she's as old as she claimes she is. Although her
    passport shows the year 1878 Maria never had any birth
    certificate that proved it was so. Relatives claim the birth
    date in Maria's passport was based on a the church records and
    what Maria herself claimed to be. But her sister expresses
    uncertainty about how old Maria really is.

    "It is written that she is 122 but maybe there was some
    mistake. I don't know."
    Some villagers also think there could have been a mistake
    and Maria's birth date was confused with her mother's. If so
    then Maria Sharaya could be at least 16 years younger than she
    claims to be.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register