Who knows? ...... I can neither confirm nor refute its authenticy.
... but hours later (as if by some bizarre coincidence) I came across the undernoted link to an article on the demise of an Italian woman - born in 1899 - reputed to have been the last person alive from the 19th century, thereby beating the record of the woman I'd mentioned earlier.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39610937![]()