[Crimson Dynamo]

When Emma Morano was born, Umberto I was still reigning over Italy, Fiat had only just been established and Milan Football Club was still a few weeks off creation.

On Tuesday, this otherwise unassuming woman marks her 117th birthday, looking back on a life which has not only spanned three centuries, but also survived an abusive marriage which started with blackmail, the loss of her only son and a diet which most would describe as anything but balanced.

Ms Morano, the oldest of eight siblings, all of whom she has outlived, was born on 29 November, 1899, in the Piedmont region of Italy.

This year, she officially became the world's oldest living woman, after American Susannah Mushatt Jones died in May, and the last person still living born in the 1800s.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38134004

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