BIOGRAPHY

Tekla Juniewicz was born as Tekla Dadak in Krupsko, Austria−Hungary (now Ukraine) on 10 June 1906. Her parents were Jan and Katarzyna Dadak, and she had two younger sisters, Rozalia and Katarzyna. Her father worked for Count Karol Lanckoronski, while her mother passed away during World War I.

As a child, Juniewicz attended the Szarytki Sisters’ school in Przeworsk, Poland, where she learned skills such as sewing, embroidery, and cooking. It was in Przeworsk that she met her future husband, Jan Juniewicz, who was 22 years her senior. They married on 28 February 1927. After their wedding, they moved to Boryslaw, Poland, where she worked in an earth wax mine. Together, they had two daughters: Janina (born in 1928) and Urszula (born in 1929).

In November 1945, Juniewicz relocated to Gliwice, Silesian Voivodeship, where her husband found employment in a mine. They remained married until Jan Juniewicz’s passing in 1980 at the age of 96. She lived independently until she turned 103, when her grandson, Adam Stachowski, moved in to help with her daily activities.

On her 113th birthday in June 2019, she received a congratulatory letter from Poland’s Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki. Prime Minister Morawiecki visited her in person at her home both in August 2019 and again in June 2022.

Throughout her life, including her supercentenarian years, Juniewicz remained active. She enjoyed reading, playing cards, watching movies and historical programs, tending to her garden, and spending time with her family. Her active lifestyle was likely a key factor in her longevity. She had little patience for idleness.

At the age of 116, Juniewicz was still able to walk short distances with assistance.

Juniewicz passed away on 19 August 2022, at the age of 116 years and 70 days, from complications following a stroke she had suffered the day before in Gliwice, during the early morning hours. According to her grandson, Adam, she had been in good health and high spirits until the day prior to her death. Her funeral took place four days later, on 23 August, in her hometown of Gliwice.

RECOGNITION

Juniewicz is the first recorded supercentenarian from Poland’s Silesian Voivodeship. Following the death of 111-year-old Jadwiga Szubartowicz on 20 July 2017, she became the Oldest Living Person in Poland, at the age of 111 years, 40 days.

On 24 April 2018, at the age of 111 years, 318 days, Juniewicz set a new record as the longest-lived person ever documented in Polish history, surpassing the previous record set by Wanda Wierzchleyska. On 10 June 2018, she became the first Polish person on record to reach the age of 112. She went on to make history as the first Pole to reach the ages of 113, 114, 115, and 116.

On 11 May 2020, Juniewicz became the oldest validated person ever born in present-day Ukraine, surpassing the previous record of 113 years and 335 days set by Goldie Michelson.

Juniewicz became the last surviving European born in 1906 following the death of Valentine Ligny on 4 January 2022. Just 22 days later, on 26 January 2022, she became the last surviving validated person in the world born in 1906, after the passing of Yoshi Otsunari.

On 23 February 2022, Juniewicz surpassed Dina Manfredini’s final age of 115 years and 257 days, becoming the oldest validated emigrant in history. She held this record until 14 May 2023, when María Branyas Morera surpassed her age.

Following the death of Kane Tanaka on 19 April 2022, Juniewicz became the second-oldest validated living person in the world.

At the time of her death, Juniewicz was the second-oldest validated living person in the world, behind only Lucile Randon, and the last surviving validated person born in 1906. Following her passing, Wanda Szajowska of Kraków, Lesser Poland, became the oldest known living person in Poland.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Najstarsza Polka mieszka w Gliwicach!” – gliwice.eu

GALLERY