| Maria Andersson | |
 | |
| Birth: | 24 December 1828? Viipuri, Finland |
| Death: | 24 August 1946 Lapinlahti, Länsisatama, Helsinki, Finland |
| Age: | 117 years, 243 days? |
| Country: |  FIN
|
| Longevity claimant | |
Maria Eufrosyne Andersson (24 December 1828? – 24 August 1946) was a Finnish supercentenarian who claimed to be the oldest Finnish person ever. She was the oldest Helsinki inhabitant between 1930-1946.
Biography
Maria Andersson claimed that she was born in Viipuri, (then part of Russian Empire), Finland on 24 December 1828, the seventh daughter of Music Sergeant Andersson, and the family moved the girl to Helsinki when she was four years old, where her father got the job of caretaker at the Governor General's mansion. Her father was a soldier and later a janitor. From the age of 9, Maria first served as a maid in Admiral Smirnof's family, until she moved with the landlord's daughter to General Heinricius's home, where she stayed for several decades. Andersson started work as a child and worked as a servant in the family of Gentlemen. She has been said to have travelled with foreign hosts alongside foreigners and spoke Finnish, Swedish and Russian.
Later, she sold flowers on the street in the center of Helsinki. Andersson was unmarried and childless. When she was the claimed age of at least 110 years, she was remembered with festive greetings and the City of Helsinki honoured her with a 500-month monthly pension.
Maria Andersson died in Lapinlahti, Länsisatama, Helsinki, Finland on 24 August 1946 at the claimed age of 117 years, 243 days. She is buried in Hietaniemi Cemetery. Her birth registration papers were destroyed during World War 2. Only evidence that survived was a note in the family Bible that her mother kept.
Gallery
References
- Maria Andersson Find A Grave
- Maria Andersson (1828? - 1946) 110 club
- Suomen Kuvalehti, 21.3.1936, Interview of Maria Andersson at 107
- Ilta-Sanomat, 23.12.1938, Pre 110th birthday announcement of Maria Andersson