News:
New Zealand's oldest person, Madeline Anderson nee Orlowski turned 110 today.
Mrs Anderson was born Madeline McKenzie Orlowski in the southern city of Dunedin 1907, the eldest of four daughters born to John Andrew Orlowski and his English/Scottish wife Jane Robinson.
John Orlowski was born in 1880 in the small settlement of Waihola (near Dunedin), the son of Polish migrants Augustus Joseph Orlowski (born 1840 in Gdansk, Poland) and Francisca Paulina Annis (born 1849 in Tczew, Pomerania). They had married in 1869 in Godziszewo, Pomerania, and migrated to Dunedin through Hamburg in 1872. They were among the earliest Polish emigrants to New Zealand.
Mrs Anderson received a birthday message from Senator Anna Maria Anders, Poland’s Secretary of State for International Dialogue, and a visit from Poland’s Ambassador to New Zealand, Zbigniew Gniatkowski, who presented her with flowers.
Mrs Anderson is pictured here with a member of her extended family, New Zealand diplomat Carl Worker.