Klavdiya Gadyuchkina, Russia’s oldest living person, celebrated her 114th birthday
The Gerontology Research Group is pleased to announce news that Mrs. Klavdiya Gadyuchkina, the oldest living person in Russia, celebrated her 114th birthday in Yaroslavl, Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia on 5 December 2024.
Klavdiya Gadyuchkina was born as Klavdiya Mikhailovna Krotova in the village of Norskoye, Yaroslavl Oblast, Russian Empire (now Russia) on 5 December 1910 to Mikhail Krotov and his wife Yevlampiya Krotova. Gadyuchkina claimed to have been born on 24 November 1909, and her family celebrated what they believed to be her 115th birthday last month. However, research conducted by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) determined that her actual birthdate is 5 December 1910.
At the age of 15, she started working at a spinning mill where she worked her whole life, first as an auxiliary worker, then as a spinner. After the marriage, she lived with her husband and his sister in the same house. The couple had five children.
Her oldest child, Margarita, was 11 years old at the beginning of World War II. Her oldest son, Yevgeny, was born at the beginning of the war. One of her children was born in January 1942, in what Gadyuchkina called “the most difficult time”. Her youngest child was born in 1945. When Gadyuchkina was 44, her husband died due to an injury received at the factory where he worked. Her sons, Sergei and Yevgeny joined the army. Her husband died in 1956, due to an injury received at the factory. She retired after 52 years of work in the factory.
On 24 November 2019 at the age of 108 (her claimed 110th birthday), she was congratulated by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin and the Mayor of Yaroslavl, Vladimir Volkov. As of November 2019, she had three living children (a daughter and two sons), six grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren. Even at the age of 110 she is still able to read books without glasses. At the age of 114, she was still able to walk without help.
On 12 November 2022, following the death of 113-year-old Nina Chagelishvili, she became the oldest known living person in Russia.
On 13 April 2024, at the age of 113 years, 130 days, she surpassed the final age of Anna Dadykina (1905–2018), becoming the oldest person ever in Russia.
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