On Friday the 10th of June, Tekla Juniewicz turned 116, an all-time record when it comes to Poland. Two months later, we have to say goodbye to a lady that saw more than several history books put together. 

„You are a witness to history and a great example of how beautiful and rich human life can be„- President Andrzej Duda and his wife wrote to the elderly woman on the occasion of her 116th birthday. 

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Tekla Juniewicz was born on the 10th of June 1906 in Krupsko, in today’s Ukraine. She was eight years old when World War I broke out (1914), 12 when Poland regained independence (1918), 21 when she married Jan Juniewicz (1927), and 33 when World War II started (1939). 

She outlived her eldest daughter and her son-in-law. In 1945, during the repatriation, the family in its entirety left the territory of the Soviet Union and, after a two-week journey by train, reached Gliwice, where Mrs Tekla’s husband was employed in the Sośnica mine.

At the age of 111 and 113, she underwent two life-saving biliary tract surgeries, becoming the oldest-ever patient to undergo such a procedure.

In 2017, she became the oldest living Polish woman after the death of Jadwiga Szubartowicz. This year, following the death of Kane Tanaka from Japan, she became the second-oldest person in the world.

As Polskie Radio reports, Tekla had five grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and even four great-great-grandchildren. Her youngest great-great-granddaughter, Iga, was born a year ago, on Juniewicz’s 115th birthday.

Image: Twitter @Miasto_Gliwice

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen