Lív og lagna á Líðini
When the well-known captain from Rituvík, Magnus Salomon Olsen, died from an illness on 13 December 1940, only 50 years old, his widow, Elspa, was left alone with twelve children – the eldest 20 years of age, the youngest only two. It would hardly have surprised anyone, had the family in Rituvík fallen apart, as most of the children most likely would be placed in foster care. But it was not to be.
With good help from the oldest four children, Elspa managed to keep the family together, and her children, as well as their children and others have since acknowledged, that such a feat would never have been possible, were it not for the immense sense of unity, that so characterised the family.
On Saturday, 21 July 2012, Elspa and Magnus’ twelve children, together with their loved ones, celebrated their 1000th combined birthday – the eldest having reached 91 years, the youngest 73.
On that day, someone began to wonder, whether the siblings’ combined age might be a world record. Over the next couple of years, evidence was gathered, and on 27 august 2014, the siblings’ world record was confirmed in the Guinness Book of World Records.
This book is the story of the twelve siblings from Rituvík, their lives, and their shared fate.