Sorrow has spread through the local community of Kyparissos in Agrinio in Western Greece, following the news of the death of Maria Efthymiou, who was the mother of 18 children.

As reported by agriniopress.gr, the funeral service took place at 4pm on Thursday. Relatives and friends of the family from the mountain village had the chance to say a final farewell to Mrs Efthymiou.

The Cultural Association of Kyparissos paid its own moving tribute. “Our village today at 4pm accompanies to her final resting place a woman who was blessed 18 times with the gift of motherhood,” it said, adding that she would always be remembered with love.

The association ended its statement by offering its warmest condolences to her family.

In January 1976, Mrs Efthymiou gave birth to the family’s 16th child, which brought her into the media spotlight.

The family from the mountain village did not stop there, and a few years later had two more children.

Ten years ago, in 2016, Mrs Efthymiou and her husband celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary and posed for a commemorative photograph with dozens of family members.

In 2013, the couple had been honoured by the Agrinio Association of Large Families, having had 18 children in total.