When Israel celebrated its independence 30 years ago, Yussuf Awad Mohammad Burkan was 120 years old, and still going strong. Last week he died at the age of 150, leaving three wives, 48 children and their descendents the legacy of a long and healthy life. Burkan was 100 years old when he married his third wife who was a mere 17 years old. The union was a happy one and they had several children.
The Jerusalem Arabic-language paper AI-Anba which disclosed the death of the old Hebronite, said Burkan was one of the workers who took part in the digging of the Suez Canal in the middle of the last century, served for 35 years in the Ottoman Empire army and for the last 70 years cultivated his lands near Hebron.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
