COUNTESS MARGIT SZECHENYI, aged 96
A Hungarian aristocrat, supported Fascism, married a Count and indulged in big game hunting. She was an ‘Enemy of the People’, constantly resisting communism.
DAVID DUSHMAN, aged 98
Fencing played a big part in his life. He was the man who liberated Auschwitz – and went on to coach the USSR fencing team in the Olympics.
IDA NUDEL, aged 90
Born in the USSR of Jewish extraction she was a refusenik, campaigning to leave Russia. Imprisoned for her protests she was eventually exiled.
VALERI POLYAKOV, aged 80
A qualified doctor he became a cosmonaut and completed two separate journeys into space, where he did medical experiments. He holds the world record for the longest continuous spell in space.
TEKLA JUNIEWICZ, aged 116
Born in 1906 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, she lived through two world wars and lived in Poland. She became the oldest person ever in Poland and the second oldest in the world.
GAIL HALVORSEN, aged 101
A USAF pilot he was part of the Berlin Airlift. He started dropping sweets for children and became known as ‘The Candy Bomber’
YURI AVERBAKH, aged 100
A qualified engineer who became a Chess Grandmaster and referee, as well as being a noted writer on chess. He was the first ever centenarian Chess Grandmaster.
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