Tamara Krutikov
- Full name: Tamara Vladimirovna Krutikov (née Kruglov) (Serbian: Тамара Крутиков]
- Lifespan: (27.03.1912 – 06.07.2022)
- Age: 110 years, 101 days
- Birthplace: Yekaterinoslav, Russian Empire (present-day Dnipro, Ukraine)
- Last residence: Belgrade, Serbia
- Application date: 09.06.2023
- Validation date: 12.02.2023
- Validation source: Dejan Vujić/Boris Vlchek/Igor Bashyrov
Biography
Tamara Krutikov was born in Yekaterinoslav, Russian Empire (now Dnipro, Ukraine) on 27 March 1912 as the sole child in her family. At the age of seven, she departed Ukraine with her parents, initially relocating to Turkey in 1919 and later to Yugoslavia in 1923, where she eventually married and established a family. Tamara’s educational journey took her from Constantinople to Kinaliada, sponsored by the English, and then to the village of Melinci near Herceg Novi, Montenegro. After a brief period in Herceg Novi, the family settled in Hrastovec, Slovenia, where Tamara spent the majority of her high school years at Count Gerbenstein’s castle. It was there that she met her future husband, Nikola, who was a music teacher at the castle. Her family had roles at the school, with her mother Ana working as a teacher and her father Vladimir Kruglov as a school secretary and math teacher.
In the early 1930s, Tamara moved to Bela Crkva to complete her high school education. She married Nikola in 1939, and the couple had three daughters: Natalija (1941), Irina (1946) and Zinaida (1950). Following their wedding, they relocated to Kavadarci, North Macedonia, where Nikola secured a job as a music teacher, and Tamara taught ballet. Subsequently, they moved to Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina, before Tamara briefly relocated to Zagreb, Croatia, during World War II, with the assistance of the Horvatović family, to give birth to her daughter Natalija in 1941. Afterward, she returned to Bihać, where her youngest daughter, Zinaida, was born in 1950.
Tamara’s husband Nikola died in Belgrade on 14 December 1981 at the age of 81. Until the age of 94, she lived alone, and later her daughter Zinaida returned from Russia to take care of her. During her career, she was the: professor of music and French language, played the piano and played tennis. She spoke Russian, French, Greek, Turkish, Macedonian, English and Serbian.
Following the death of 109-year-old Nadežda Pavlović on 16 April 2021, Tamara became the oldest known living person in Serbia.
In March 2022, she celebrated her 110th birthday, becoming a supercentenarian and the second-oldest documented person to have lived in Serbia, after Jelisaveta Veljković (1904–2016).
Tamara Krutikov died in New Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia on 6 July 2022 at the age of 110 years, 101 days. Following her death, then 107-year-old Milka Bauković became the oldest living person in Belgrade and Serbia.
Tamara Krutikov as a young woman in the 1920s and 1930s.
Longevity Recognition
- Doyenne of Serbia (16.04.2021 – 06.07.2022)
Validation
The case of Tamara Krutikov was meticulously examined and verified by Mr. Dejan Vujić (GRG Correspondent for Serbia), Boris Vlchek (her grandson) and Igor Bashyrov (Ukraine), and validated by the GRG on 12 February 2023.
23 July 1939; Tamara Krutikov on her wedding day together with her husband Nikola Krutikov.
Tamara Krutikov as a middle-aged woman with her family.
2012; Tamara Krutikov celebrating her 100th birthday in Belgrade, Serbia.
2016/2018; Tamara Krutikov celebrating her 104th (left) and 106th birthday (right).
2021; Tamara Krutikov celebrating her 109th birthday together with her daughters: Irina and Zinaida.
2022; Tamara Krutikov on her 110th birthday together with her daughters: Natalija, Irina and Zinaida.
