The story of Koku Istambulova, world's 'oldest' woman who never lived a happy day

Russia's Koku Istambulova was known for two things- Being the world's oldest person and living a life in which she claimed to have not enjoyed "a single day." According to The Mirror, Istambulova passed away at her home in a village in Chechnya at the age of 129.

“She was joking, she was talking. Then she suddenly felt unwell, she complained of a chest pain. We called the doctor, we were told that her blood pressure had dropped, and injections were made. But they failed to save her. She died in a quiet way, fully conscious, praying," said her grandson Iliyas Abubakarov. 

Istambulova was believed to be the oldest person who ever lived. Her pension records displayed that she was older than a 128-year-old woman mentioned in the Russian Book of Records. But her old age wasn't the only thing that gained her popularity. It was her belief that she never lived a happy day in her long life. 

The life of Koku Istambulova

Said to be born on June 1, 1889, her life was no less than a tragedy. At an early age, she was part of the massive deportation of Chechen people by Soviet figure Joseph Stalin to Kazakhstan. In an interview last year, she revealed that she watched people die and get thrown out of cattle-truck trains, after which hungry dogs fed on them. 

Recalling a day in 1944, she said, “It was a bad day, cold and gloomy. We were put in a train and taken … no one knew where. Railway carriages were stuffed with people - dirt, rubbish, excrement was everywhere.” 

Her father-in-law was among those who were tossed out of the moving train. Before the war broke out, she recalled how Nazi tanks moved past her home and how her two sons died due to lack of medical attention. The secret to long life, according to her, was nothing in particular, just "God’s will." "I did nothing to make it happen. I see people going in for sports, eating something special, keeping themselves fit, but I have no idea how I lived until now," she previously said.