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Ioanna Proiou-Dimitriadou

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Ioanna Proiou-Dimitriadou
Ioanna Proiou-Dimitriadou
Birth: 2 July 1911
Raches, Icaria, Greece
Death: 5 April 2023
Raches, Icaria, Greece
Age: 111 years, 277 days
Country: GreeceGRE
Unvalidated

Ioanna Proiou-Dimitriadou [Greek: Ιωάννα Πρωίου-Δημητριάδου] (2 July 1911 – 5 April 2023) was a Greek supercentenarian whose age is currently unvalidated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG). She was the oldest known living person in Greece and the Balkans at the time of her death.

Biography[]

Ioanna Proiou-Dimitriadou was born in Raches, Icaria, Greece on 2 July 1911. She was the 12th of 13 siblings. Her mother, Efthymia, was born in 1870 and she was from the best weavers of the island. Her father came from a wealthy family of Chios, with ships and parcels of land. From a very young age, Ioanna, learned to weave. She also learned to use the loom and from the age of 15 she was a professional weaver. Until the age of 30 she didn't want/intend to marry. In 1938 she went for first time to Athens, greek capital, in order to purchase materials, but the war blocked her there. She was married in 1941, in order to have a companion to deal with the ongoing war and the later Axis Occupation. They traveled through all Peloponnese to make a living.

At her 80s, after the death of her husband and moving from Athens to Icaria, she took the iniatiative to make the House of Loom in Raches, Icaria, as she was willing to see this art to continue flourishing. In her centenary years, she still worked at the loom and made many handmade items that she sold in her small shop in Raches. She was also likes to make small poems and songs. She was an active presence on cultural efforts and associations both in Icaria and in Nea Ionia, Athens. She was known as "The Lady of the Loom" ("Η Κυρά του Αργαλειού").

Proiou-Dimitriadou had three children, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Longevity[]

When asked about what needs to be done for someone to live long she said: "First, do not be jealous. What the other has, what he does not have, do not care. Secondly, may my heart be good inside. To love the whole Universe. I believe in that. I do not believe in god. I believe in nature and its creations. Third, do not be skeptical. Human does not need much to live. The necessary to have suffice. You saw where greed led us. In environmental disasters, in wars and killings. I lived them and I know them. Fourth and most important, be a creator. Eat your bread with the sweat of your brow, as the Gospel says (s.s. she has read it, knows verses by heart even if she does not believe). And of course take care of your body - it carries you... These are. I tell you this and may you have my wish".

She became the oldest known living person in Greece, following the death of 109-year-old Haido Katsara on 20 August 2019.

In July 2021, she celebrated her 110th birthday and became a supercentenarian. Following the death of 111-year-old Zenepe Piranic of Albania on 5 July 2021, she became the oldest known living person in the Balkans.

On 25 December 2022, she surpassed the age of Eugenia Vrantis (1906–2017) of 111 years, 175 days and became the oldest known person ever in Greece.

Ioanna Proiou-Dimitriadou died in Raches, Icaria, Greece on 5 April 2023 at the age of 111 years, 277 days. Following her death, then 109-year-old Kallistheni Meleonitou became the oldest known living person in Greece, and then 109-year-old Ilie Ciocan of Romania became the oldest known living person in the Balkans.

Gallery[]

References[]


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

Ekaterini Zacharopoulos • Anastasia Athanassoulas • Elpida Moschopoulos • Konstantinos Papadamis • Maria Papakyriakou • Panagiota Kraniou • Lambis Kounoupas • Eugenia Vrantis • Haido Katsara • Ioanna Proiou-Dimitriadou • Kallistheni Meleonitou • Magdalini Pavlidou • Paressa Orfanidou

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