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World's Oldest Jewish Person, Woman Born in Russia, Dies at 113

NEW YORK — The world's oldest Jewish person, Evelyn Kozak, whose family fled Russia to escape anti-Semitism, has died at age 113.

Kozak died Tuesday after suffering a heart attack the day before, her granddaughter Brucha Weisberger said Thursday.

Kozak was the world's oldest documented Jewish person and the world's seventh-oldest person, said Robert Young, a senior database administrator at the Gerontology Research Group, an organization of physicians, scientists and engineers who validate supercentenarians, people 110 or older.

The group said Kozak was born in New York City on Aug. 14, 1899. Her family had moved from Russia to escape anti-Semitic attacks.

She spent much of her adult life in Miami, where she ran a boarding house for many years, Weisberger said.

"She always said a good conscience was the secret to a long life," she added.

(AP)

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