Valentina Vassilyev (1707-1782) was a Russian woman known for being the most fertile woman in the world. She holds the Guinness World Record for having the most children by a single woman, giving birth to a total of 69 children (16 sets of twins, 7 sets of triplets, and 4 sets of quadruplets). 67 of them survived, but one twin died in infancy.
Wiki/Biography
Valentina Vassilyev was born in Shuya, Ivanovo Oblast, Tsarist Russia, in 1707 (aged 76; died). She is a farmer.
family
Parents and siblings
Little is known about her family.
husband and children
Valentina Vasilyev’s husband, Fyodor Vasilyev, was a peasant working for the Moscow government. The 18th-century couple had 69 children between 1725 and 1765. She actually gave birth 27 times, giving birth to 16 sets of twins, 7 sets of triplets and 4 sets of quadruplets. Remarkably, given the historical context and her limited access to advanced medical assistance due to her status as a peasant, 67 survived, while one twin died in infancy. Valentina’s pregnancy could be 37 weeks for twins, 32 weeks for triplets and 30 weeks for quadruplets. However, their names, dates of birth and deaths are unknown. The case was reported in the Nikolsky Monastery on February 27, 1782, and was included in the 1998 Guinness Book of World Records.
Feodor Vassilyev and Valentina Vassilyev with their children
The second marriage of Fyodor Vasilyev
Vasilyev reportedly gave birth to 18 more children – six sets of twins and two sets of triplets – in eight pregnancies with his second wife. This would bring the total number of his descendants to 87. Although the accuracy of this statement is questionable due to the lack of well-maintained records from the period, it is confirmed by the Gentleman’s Magazine (Vol. 53, p. 753, London, 1783).
Record reliability
Although the Guinness Book of World Records recognizes Fyodor and Valentina’s story, many people, especially those in the medical community, believe the story is just a legend. It was hard for them to imagine that such a thing could happen in 18th-century Russia. However, certain records forwarded to Moscow by the Nikolsky Monastery in February 1782 detail Fyodor’s total of 82 surviving descendants from both marriages. The first public report about Feodor Vassilyev’s children appeared in The Gentleman’s Magazine in 1783 (Volume 53, 753, London, 1783 ). In the magazine, Fyodor Vasilyev was known as Fyodor Vafilev. it reads,
In one such example in England, though far inferior to this, it is doubtful, I think, whether the extraordinary fertility was due to the man alone, or to the woman, or to both: the death of the first wife, and The second increase in fertility is thought to have played a very good role in determining the issue in favor of the person… However surprising, it can be relied upon because it comes directly from an English merchant in St. Petersburg who was British connections, he added, that peasant would be introduced to the Queen. Some such subject would remove the great defects of the people of her vast dominions. “
Ivan Nikitich Boltin’s 1788 review of Russian history and Alexander Pavlovich Bashutskiy’s 1834 Panorama of St. Petersburg The same information is also provided in the book. Many published sources have expressed doubts about the accuracy of these statements. Julia Bell mentioned in a 1933 article in Biometrika that a book titled Statistische Schilderung von Rußland published in 1790 by BFJ Hermann did contain information on Statements from Feodor Vassilyev’s children, but these statements were provided “with caution”. Additionally, Bell points out that The Lancet reported this case in an 1878 article focused on twins. According to the Lancet article, the French Academy of Sciences tried to confirm the claims about Vasilyev’s children. They explained how to proceed to “M. Khanikov of the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg” but were told that further investigation was not necessary. This is because members of the Vasilyev family still live in Moscow and receive favors from the government. Bell concluded that the credibility of Vasilyev’s case was questionable. Likewise, Marie Clay of the University of Auckland lamented in her 1989 book Quadruplets and Higher Multiples that, in hindsight, the lack of proper investigation at the time severely hampered Our ability to accurately determine the true details of this extraordinary event. case.
die
Valentina Vasilyev died in Shuya, Russia, in 1782 at the age of 76.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education