| Sahan Dosova | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 March 1879?? Aul, Karaganda, Kazakhstan, Russian Empire |
| Died | 9 May 2009 (aged 130 years, 43 days?) Aul, Karaganda, Kazakhstan |
| Cause of death | Broken hip following a fall |
| Other names | Sakhan Dosova |
| Known for | Being one of the world's oldest people |
Sahan Dosova (Kazakh: Сaxaн Дocoвa; 27 March 1879?? – 9 May 2009) was a Kazakhstani woman, also known as Sakhan Dosova, believed by many to have been the oldest person to have ever lived.[1][2]
Contents |
If her claimed date of birth (27 March 1879) is correct, Sahan would have been 130 years, 43 days old at the time of her death on 9 May 2009. This is eight years longer than Jeanne Calment, a French woman who died in 1997 with the longest lifespan in history, aged 122 years, 164 days.
Dosova's case was first uncovered during a census in Kazakhstan. However, there are doubts about the claims made on behalf of Sahan because she did not have a birth certificate and it was common for people at the time to make up their own date of birth.[1]
Another bone of contention is that at the time of her alleged 130th birthday her only living daughter was 76 years old, meaning that Dosova would have been 54 years old when she gave birth.[1]
Dosova died on 9 May 2009, allegedly aged 130 years, about a month after she slipped and fell on the bathroom floor of a flat gifted to her on account of her old age. "She broke her hip in the fall and never recovered", one of Sahan's neighbors said.
In an interview in March 2009, Sahan had said: "I don't have any special secret. I've never taken pills and if I was ill, I used granny's remedies to cure me. I have never eaten sweets. I don't like them." But she confessed that she loved kurt, a local delicacy made of salty dried cottage cheese, and talkan (ground wheat).
The twice married Dosova was widowed at the Battle of Stalingrad during the Second World War. Only three of her children remain alive. She attributed her long life to her sense of humour. According to her caregiver and eldest granddaughter, Dosova grew up as an orphan during her infant and childhood years.