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Man files for divorce after 77 years of marriage

After learning of an affair that took place more than 50 years ago, a 99-year-old man has filed for divorce from his wife of nearly a century. The man and woman have now become one of the oldest couples to file for divorce in history, according to media reports.

The man was reportedly going through an old chest of drawers a few days before Christmas when he came across letters written by his wife to a man that was not him. He confronted his 96-year-old wife with what he had found, and she confessed that she had been involved with another man during a secret affair in the 1940s. The husband became very upset about the 50-year-old betrayal, and decided to file for divorce.

The couple, who met and married in the 1930s and who has since resided in Rome, has been married for 77 years. They have five children together, as well as 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

It is unlikely that the letters and affair admission are the sole reason for the split. Reports indicate that the couple has long had problems. Ten years ago, the husband left the couple’s home in Rome and moved in with one of his sons. He returned home to his wife a few weeks later, but it is clear that their marriage never fully recovered.

With the divorce, the couple has stolen the title of oldest divorcees from a husband and wife who ended their marriage in 2009. Both were 98 years old at the time of their split.

Source: The Telegraph, “99-year-old divorces wife after he discovered 1940s affair,” Nick Squires, Dec. 29, 2011