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Birth

4 March 1908Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

Death

17 January 2019Schifflange, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

Age

110

Germaine Litwinski-Kauffmann

Germaine Elise Josephine Litwinski-Kauffmann was a Luxembourgian supercentenarian who may have held the longevity record for the country since 2018. Her age has not been validated by LongeviQuest (LQ).

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Biography

Litwinski-Kauffmann was born in Zitha Klinik, a hospital in Luxembourg City, on 4 March 1908 as the daughter of Rémy Kauffmann and Elise Guill. She had two siblings. Her brother René died aged 85 in 1997. Her mother died in 1912 aged 34; her father later remarried and her sister, Juliette, was born in 1919. She was still alive in 2018 aged 99.

Litwinski-Kauffmann grew up in Offenbach, Germany, and was taught German, French, and English. She worked as a freelance translator, as well as being the private tutor of Count Guy Le Grelle, and secretary and housekeeper to the Le Grelle noble family. She later moved to Brussels and ran a fashion business.

Litwinski-Kauffmann returned to Luxembourg in 1980 and, two years later, married retired lawyer Dr. Roland Litwinski, who died in 1989. She lived independently with support from her nieces, enjoying walks in the local park, until she was 103, when she fractured her hip and moved into a nursing home in Schifflange.

As a centenarian, Litwinski-Kauffmann was wheelchair-bound, but she was still sharp mentally, partaking in many activities in her nursing home. She became Luxembourg’s oldest resident upon the death of Barbara Schiltz-Jung on 18 July 2016.

Upon turning 110 in March 2018, Litwinski-Kauffmann became the first female supercentenarian from Luxembourg, and the second overall after Jean Ley. Eleven days later, she surpassed Ley’s age to become Luxembourg’s oldest person ever. She died on 17 January 2019 at the age of 110 years, 319 days.

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Recognition

Litwinski-Kauffmann was reported in a single article on her 105th birthday. She was not recognised again until her 110th birthday, which received a significantly greater amount of news coverage. Her 110th birthday celebration was attended by Schifflange mayor Paul Weimerskirch and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa.