Meet "Antonio C," the name court documents give to a nearly century old Italian man looking to divorce his wife of 77 years. The Telegraph, reporting the story to the Anglophone world, says that Antonio and Rosa's divorce, if finalized, "appears to set a new record, at least for the age of the oldest protagonist – the previous oldest couple to divorce were Bertie and Jessie Wood, both aged 98, from the UK."  

The reason for ending a 77-year-long marriage? One so long that they had five children, 12 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild? So long that for their first 36 years of marriage divorce wasn't even legal in Italy? They're getting divorced for the same reason us younger folk do: Infidelity!

Infidelity that happened back in the 1940s, that is. Just before Christmas, Antonio found old love letters addressed to the now 97-year-old Rosa in a drawer and demanded a divorce. "Guilt-stricken, she reportedly confessed everything but was unable to persuade her husband to reconsider his decision," which is The Telegraph's way of transcribing what we presume was the very passionate Italian-style fight that ensued. Still, it's a pretty sad story.

Image by Martina Ebel via Shutterstock.

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