Greece’s oldest known woman, Eleni Baroulaki, passed away on Tuesday May 14 at the age of 119 on the island of Crete.
According to Kathimerini, Baroulaki was born in 1905 and lived her entire life in Paidochori in the municipality of Apokoronos in Chania.
Living a long life seems to run in the family as local news outlet Haniotika Nea reported that her father reached 107 while her mother lived to 100.
In 2019, when asked what her secret to a long life was, she cited faith, asking for help from Christ and Saint George and also the Cretan diet with lots of vegetables and mostly greens.
She married Spyros Baroulakis in 1939 and the two had five children.
She was also reportedly the great granddaughter of Sifis Konstantoudakis ‘Sifakas’, a leader in the 1821 Greek Revolution who has a statue in the village of Melidoni.
The Apokoronos Municipality paid tribute to her in a statement which said “her way of life and her virtues are models for us and an example to follow.”
