Iosif Rus, the second-oldest living man in Romania, celebrated his 110th birthday in Gherla, Cluj County, on 28 October. His birthday was first reported by Digi24.
Iosif Rus was born in Ghiolt, Țaga, Cluj County, on 28 October 1915. His early childhood was marked by hardship: his father was a World War I prisoner in Siberia, and his mother died when he was two and a half. After his father’s return and remarriage, Rus grew up with both full and half-siblings.
He began school at age seven and later studied at the Normal Schools in Cluj and Gherla, where he developed a strong interest in music, especially the violin. After graduating, he became a teacher at the Gherla Penitentiary school for young inmates.
(Source: adevarul.ro)
Following military service in 1937–1938, Rus taught in several villages before being reassigned in 1939 to the Gherla Penitentiary. During World War II, he served in the Romanian army, fought on the Eastern Front, and was wounded in the Caucasus. After recovering in Crimea and Bucharest, he worked in Turnu Severin managing captured goods during the war’s final years, returning home in 1945.
In 1954, he married Eugenia from Ocna Mureş, whom he had first met during the war. They had no children together, though Eugenia had a son from a previous relationship. Rus was widowed in 1988.
He is currently the nation’s second-oldest living man, after Ilie Ciocan. His birthday marks the first time the country has had two living male supercentenarians.
LongeviQuest extends warm congratulations to Iosif Rus on his 110th birthday.
