SACHIRE, Georgia – Authorities in the former Soviet republic of Georgia claim a woman from a remote mountain village turned 130 on Thursday, making her the oldest person on Earth.

Antisa Khvichava, from western Georgia, was born on July 8, 1880, said Georgiy Meurnishvili, spokesman for the civil registry at the Justice Ministry.

Khvichava, who lives with her 40-year-old grandson in a mountain home, retired from her job as a tea and corn picker in 1965, when she was 85, records say.

“I’ve always been healthy, and I’ve worked all my life — at home and at the farm,” Khvichava told a reporter..

Her age couldn’t immediately be independently verified. Her birth certificate was lost, but Meurnishvili showed two Soviet-era documents he says attest to her age. Scores of acquaintances backed up her claim.

 

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