Aleksandra Dranka

Aleksandra Dranka de domo Pięta (born 3 October 1903 in Harklowa, Subcarpathian Voivodeship near Jasło, died on 29 April 2014 in Jasło) − Polish supercentenarian. She was the oldest living person in Poland, whose age has been officially verified and she was among the oldest people of Europe.

Biography

Aleksandra Dranka was born in Harklowa as daughter of Antoni and Maria Pięta née Kula. In February 1905, as a little girl along with her parents, she migrated to the United States to live in Chicago, where her parents opened a restaurant. She survived there a holdup with shooting. After it the family decided to return to Poland. In New York port, little Aleksandra was kidnapped. Her father chased the kidnapper and with the help of the other people he managed to retrieve her. According to the family's story, it was her red jacket that saved her, because she was easily seen in crowd at the port.

After the return to Poland in 1908, she helped her parents maintain a farm and as the oldest daughter she helped in raising the younger siblings. Her passion through all her life was the tailoring.

In 1928 Aleksandra married Michał Dranka (1904-1991). They were married through 63 years. She gave birth to two children: a daughter and a son. She had three grandchildren and four great grandchildren. On 3 October 2013 she celebrated her 110th birthday. She had a long-lived family: her mother, and some of her siblings turned 90 and her brother, Teofil Pięta (1913–2013)[6] was aged 100. Dranka died on 29 April 2014 at age 110 years 208 days.