Meet the Inspirational Woman Who Has Been Surviving Pandemics for more than a Century

Angelina Friedman was born in 1918 on a ship bound for New York City from Italy transporting immigrants. This was during the height of the 1918 Flu Pandemic which has before been known, both inaccurately and insensitively, as The Spanish Flu. This flu pandemic was a devastating virus that killed over 25 million people in just the first six months, with second and third waves being even more lethal. The death rate approached nearly 20%.

It was during this horrible pandemic that Angelina Friedman’s mother died delivering her, and it was up to her older sisters to help the newborn survive until they could meet up with their father in Brooklyn. Out of the eleven other children in her family, Angelina Friedman is the last surviving, living for over a century with the world facing yet another pandemic. Although hers is a family of unusual longevity, with her daughter even claiming that everyone, except one brother from that generation, lived to be at least 95, Friedman’s life was not without its struggles. 

She faced cancer, miscarriages, sepsis, and internal bleeding. And, in March, she was diagnosed with COVID-19. This virus is particularly threatening to those who are 65 years or older, but Friedman, who is more than half that number again, recently tested negative for the disease. 

While suffering from the virus, she did run a fever off and on, but she didn’t have any of the respiratory issues that are threatening many of the high-risk patients across the globe. She continued to test positive for several weeks until finally, after nearly a month, the tests came back negative. 

These days, in spite of being over 100 and living through two pandemics, Friedman is as active as ever. She had a big birthday bash last year for her 101st birthday at North Westchester Restorative Therapy & Nursing Center, and was also crowned prom queen during last year’s prom season. Although the schools are out, we hope she finds a way to hold onto that title for the second year in a row, and are sure she be dancing the night away either way.