Georgia's Ministry of Justice congratulated Antissa Khvichava today on her supposed 130th birthday. Despite considerable skepticism to the contrary, the government claims that Kvichava is the world's oldest person. She allegedly has the birth certificate to prove it, you see.
Khvichava lives in a tiny village in West Georgia together with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and supposedly does not look a day over 100.
Georgia has long enjoyed a reputation for longevity, but Khvichava’s claim brings to mind an old Georgian joke.
A centenarian mountain man complains to a doctor that he has not been feeling well recently. The doctor smiles charitably and says that the man is about to kick the bucket. “This is going to be devastating for my dad,” the man sighs.
“Dad?!” the doctor exclaims. “For Christ’s sake, how old is he?”
“Just turned 130,” the white-bearded man says, and adds, shaking his head, “If I die now, he will have to postpone his wedding."
The doctor jumps from his chair and shouts: “He is getting married at such an age?”
The man responds with a gesture: “I know, my dad does not really want to get married again, but his parents insist.”
Giorgi Lomsadze is a journalist based in Tbilisi, and author of Tamada Tales.
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