The oldest woman on the Greek island of Kalymnos, Eirini Voui, known to locals as "Kyra Rinio", passed away on Wednesday at the age of 108. She was born on 27 July 1918 and raised six children.
According to local reports, she spent her entire life on the island, living in the Kantouni area. For decades, she worked in livestock farming, and older residents remember her walking long distances on foot to sell milk in the main town of Kalymnos.
Kalymnos mayor Giannis Mastrokoukos described her as an exceptional woman and a "mother-heroine". "She always said what she wanted to say, without hesitation. Directly. For our island, she was a mother and a woman who stood out for her strength and fighting spirit. That is why we were all proud of her," Mastrokoukos told ANA-MPA.
Greece's oldest known living person is Paressa Orfanidou, who is reported to be 110. A survivor of the Pontic Greek genocide, she was born in Trabzon, in present-day Turkey, in 1915 and lives in Serres. The country's oldest reported woman, Eleni Baroulaki of Crete, died in May 2024 at the age of 119.
