Antisa Khvichava claims to be 130 years old. If the government of the Republic of Georgia is to be believed, she was born on July 8, 1880. According to Yahoo News, her claims could not be independently verified. Georgia has had more than its share of wars and upheavals in the 130 years since Khvichava was born. The birth of her son and other events in Kvichava’s life did generate a paper trail of documents, some from the Soviet era, which might corroborate her story.
Antisa Kvichava has 1 son who is now 70 years old. In addition, she has 10 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. Although she is mentally quite lucid, Khvichava gets around with difficulty. Yahoo News describes her condition as follows.
“Grandma has a very clear mind and she hasn’t lost an ability to think rationally,” said Khvichava’s granddaughter Shorena, who lives in a nearby village.
Though her body has all but quit on her — her fingers cramped and deformed by age mean she can no longer maintain her love of knitting — relatives say her mind remains sharp.
Although Khvichava has difficulty walking and has stayed largely in bed during the past seven years, she makes a point of hobbling unaided to the outhouse on the other side of the yard, loathe to be a nuisance, Mikhail said.”
Conversation with Kvichava was complicated by the fact that she only speaks Mingrelian, a language spoken within Georgia that is distinct from Georgian, despite sharing a common alphabet with it.
Antisa Khvichava attributes her longevity to drinking vodka. She is well known in her village, with local people as well as her Soviet era passport backing up her claims to longevity.
There is a woman in Kazakhstan who also claims to be 130. Her name is Sakhan Dossova. She faces similar obstacles to those faced by Antisa Khvichava in proving her date of birth.
There are regions of the world with a reputation for longevity. Khvichava comes from such a region. It is a matter of scientific interest whether environment, genetics or a combination of those two factors creates the conditions for longevity. It is heart warming to vodka lovers everywhere to see Antisa Khvichava knocking back a shot of vodka.Drinkers everywhere want to see her claims verified. It would be interesting as well to hear her memories from her many years on earth. However many her years may number, I wish her many, many more.
