Qamile Marra, a resident of Ferras, Albania , may be the oldest living woman on Earth at 117 years old.. Her family is currently seeking formal verification from Guinness World Records to confirm her birth date of August 19, 1909.
Two days older than Ethel Caterham
If Guinness World Records validates the claims made by her family, Qamile Marra would officially surpass Britain's Ethel Caterham, who is the current recognized record holder. According to the report, Marra would be precisely two days older than Caterham, marking a rare shift in the global hierarchy of supercentenarians.
The pursuit of this title is not merely for prestige but serves as a testament to a life that has spanned an extraordinary array of geopolitical shifts. Qamile Marra was born under Ottoman rule and lived through the end of World War II and the subsequent era of Albania's communist dictatorship.
The 1945 birth certificate and the 1978 passport
Proving the age of individuals over 110 is notoriously difficult, but Qamile Marra possesses a rare trail of documentation.. As reported by AFP, her family holds a birth certificate issued in 1945, a passport from 1978, and a modern identity card, all of which consistently list the same birth date.
This consistency is critical because the verification process for supercentenarians often fails due to missing or contradictory records. The fact that Qamile Marra has three distinct official documents spanning several decades provides a stronger evidentiary basis than many other claimants in similar age brackets.
A life without medication in the Kuçova area
Living in the village of Ferras, located about 100 kilometres south of Tirana in the Kuçova area, Qamile Marra attributes her longevity to a simple, agrarian lifestyle. Her 80-year-old son , Hysen,claims that his mother has never visited a doctor and has never taken any form of medication throughout her 117 years.
The daily routine of Qamile Marra involves physical activity and a connection to nature, including sweeping her yard, watering flowers, and walking through her orchard to pick pomegranates. She also maintains a sensory connection to her environment, often carrying basil leaves in her pockets for their aroma.
The 2024 Ig Nobel study on pension fraud
The skepticism surrounding supercentenarian claims is backed by scientific research, including a study that won a 2024 Ig Nobel prize. That research highlighted how shoddy recordkeeping and suspected pension fraud often inflate the number of people claiming to be the world's oldest in certain regions.
Interestingly, Qamile Marra's own experience with the Albanian government mirrors this skepticism. According to her son Hysen, local authorities actually stopped her pension when she turned 100 because they did not believe she was still alive. It took witness statemeents and proof of identity to resume the payments, though the government has since issued her a special state pension to honor her age.
Seven children and five generations of family
The personal history of Qamile Marra is as expansive as her chronological age, having raised seven children from an arranged but loving marriage. She has now witnessed five generations of her family grow and establish their own lives, a feat that provides a living link to the early 20th century.
Beyond the numbers, Qamile Marra remains an active presence in her home, often chatting with nieces and reflecting on her youth. She still possesses a phootograph of herself at age 18, wearing a white headscarf identical to the one she wears today, bridging the gap between her youth and her current status as a potential world record holder.
Comments 0