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Alzbeta Budinska

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Alzbeta Budinska
Alzbeta Budinska
Alžbeta Budínska on her 106th birthday in 2004.
Birth: 17 November 1898
Varín, Žilina Region, Austria-Hungary (now Slovakia)
Death: 6 April 2006
Košice, Košice Region, Slovakia
Age: 107 years, 140 days
Country: SlovakiaSVK
Centenarian

Alzbeta Budinska [Slovak: Alžbeta Budínska] (17 November 1898 – 6 April 2006) was a Slovakian centenarian who was the oldest known living person in Slovakia at the time of her death.

Biography[]

Alžbeta Budínska was born in the village of Varín, Žilina Region, Austria-Hungary (now Slovakia), on 17 November 1898. She was born into a railway worker's family as the fourth of five children. When she was 13, she went to work for a certain rich singer in Budapest, Hungary. As a young girl, after returning from Budapest back to Žilina, she started working for a local Jewish merchant. Since she was clever, she started a trade and became his buyer. She traveled around Slovakia, especially to Michalovce, where she sourced various agricultural commodities for him and arranged for the transportation of goods by train. There she met her future husband, who also worked as a traveling salesman for a certain company in Prostějov. They got married in 1921, and a few years later they bought a house in Košice. The couple had three daughters, but their paths diverged in 1938. Košice was occupied by the Hungarians and the Moravians had to leave. So her husband went to Piešťany. Originally, he wanted to take his family with him, but he was always a philanderer and he was already leaving for Piešťany with another woman. So she raised her children alone and divorced her husband in 1943.

During World War II and the first post-war years, she earned extra money by renting rooms to students in her family home. Many were from villages, so they paid the rent in the form of meals, and she also cooked for them. She worked in Zdroj from 1948 until her retirement in 1961. After retirement, she sold her house and received 67,000 crowns for it. She first moved into a four-room apartment, which she later exchanged for a one-and-a-half-room apartment. While she was able, she went mushroom picking and into the forest: Especially collecting arrowroot was her hobby. Every day she cleaned 50 pieces of arrowroot in the evenings. In addition, she loved crocheting, and made carpets from chemlon. Her beer, which she brewed at home, was also famous. It was a sought-after item, especially after the war, so she had no shortage of customers. In addition to producing beer, she also made wine, which also found its regulars.

Her strong approach to life is also evidenced by the fact that she hah been think pragmatically about her death for many years. She bought a grave in the Košice cemetery back in 1967, and so that no one in the family could make excuses about not being able to come to the funeral, she opened a savings account for everyone with a sum of money for the trip. Later, she had to cancel the security deposit for her funeral because all her friends she had planned to "see" at her funeral had already died long before her.

At the age of 90, she had cataract surgery. The doctor asked her if it was still worth it at that age. She then jumped up and said that she still wanted to watch TV and read newspapers. When she was 102 years old, she had surgery for a hernia, and according to her family and doctors, a miracle happened: "She suffered from anemia her whole life and had a very poor blood count. After the surgery, her blood count improved so much that it is like it was in her youth".

On 17 November 1998, she celebrated her 100th birthday, becoming a centenarian. Her recipe for longevity was: Work, humor, and a firm attitude towards life in which there is no room for self-pity.

On 22 July 2005, following the death of 106-year-old Anna Moráková, she became the oldest known living person in Slovakia.

Alžbeta Budínska died in Košice, Košice Region, Slovakia, on 6 April 2006, at the age of 107 years, 140 days. She was also the last surviving person in Slovakia born in the 1800s. Following her death, then 105-year-old Zuzana Holla became the oldest known living person in Slovakia.

References[]


Slovakia's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (V • E)

Maria Hricova • Maria Fillova • Katarina Cavojova • Anna Bednarova • Adela Ivancova • Jozefina Bartizalova • Anna Michulkova • Magdalena Skorvankova • Maria Holoubkova • Anna Morakova • Alzbeta Budinska • Zuzana Holla • Hedviga Sekerasova • Eleonora Dvoranova • Anna Balasova • Helena Schusterova • Rozalia Polackova • Maria Ceremugova • Paula Simanova • Stefania Sovcikova • Elvira Weiszova • Margita Bindasova • Gizela Dvoncova • Ilona Szeker • Juliana Jarosova

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