Hava Rexha
|
Hava Rexha (August 22, 1880?, Shushicë, Albania - November 8, 2003, Shushicë, Albania) was said to be the oldest woman in Albania, and perhaps in the World, when she died at the reputed age of 123. Those claiming that she was born in 1880 did not send to the Guinness Book of World Records sufficient documentation to prove her age before she died. One article claimed her birth in 1880 was recorded in 1946, which is way past the margin of acceptable proof.
Rexha, a Muslim, was forced to marry at 14 to a man who was about 60 years old, a fact that she still resented. She had six children, though four died in childhood. She was buried next to her husband's grave in a ceremony attended by a crowd of hundreds of people, as well as her only surviving daughter, Vule (80 years old).
References
- Albania's oldest woman dies at 123 (http://onenews.nzoom.com/onenews_detail/0,1227,234731-1-9,00.html)