Is this the oldest person to ever live? Family says woman was 134 years old - and government backs claim

 

Record holder: Government officials claim Tuti was 134 when she died

A woman who is claimed to be the world's oldest ever person died this week at the age of 134.
Tuti Yusupova was apparently born on July 1, 1880 - which would make her 12 years older than the current record holder, Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997.
Government officials in her home country of Uzbekistan have backed a claim by her relatives to make the claim official in the Guinness Book of Records.
Tuti's passport and birth certificate seem to prove the claims, which would make her eight years older than the Eiffel Tower.

 

Proof? Tuti's passport says she was born in 1880

Her funeral was held in Uzbekistan, where a top politician said it was "without doubt" that her age has been proven.
Baxadir Yangibaev, chairman of the council of ministers of the Republic of Karakalpakstan – the area of Uzbekistan where Tuti lived – said that out of a population of 30 million the country had 8,700 centenarians, making it a very healthy place to live.
At the age of 134, Tuti lived through countless major events including two World Wars, the invention of television, the modern motor car, aeroplanes and the interent.
In a BBC video aired when Tutu was 128, the centenarian said her health was fine in general but her hearing wasn't what it used to be.

 

Hard labour: Tuti said working hard was one of the secrets to long life

In a Russian documentary about the woman's life, Tuti said she spent a lot of her later years watching TV programmes after decades of hard labour.
She said: "I can tell you that the secret to a long life is to do lots of work in the fields and to live an honest life.
"Having lived through so many wars I would also tell the children of today to try and live their lives in the company of good people and to appreciate times of peace."
The speculation about her remarkably old age was never doubted by officials in Uzbekistan, where in 2008 she was honoured with a special price known as the 'Shukhrat'.
She was also visited by experts from the World Health Organisation who wanted to study her as part of research into longevity.
Tuti leaves behind more than 100 descendants who are all backing the claim for her world record age.

 

Long life: Tuti also recommended living an 'honest life'

Yesterday, the world's living oldest woman Misao Okawo died peacefully in a nursing home in Japan at the age of 117.
The world’s new oldest person is American Gertrude Weaver, 116, who lives at Silver Oaks Health and Rehabilitation, a nursing home in Camden, Ark.
Great-gran of six Misao, who lived in Osaka in Japan, put her long life down to eating sushi, getting eight hours sleep a night and relaxing.
Born in 1898, she got married in 1919 and has three children, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Her husband died in 1931.
She was presented with a certificate from the Guiness Book of Records officially recognising her as the world's oldest living woman when she turned 115.
Japan is thought to have more than 50,000 people over 100 years old, which is often attributed to the country's low fat diet of sushi and fish.