The oldest known person in the world, Maria Branyas Morera, has passed away at the age of 117.
She had spent the past two decades in the Santa Maria del Tura nursing home in the town of Olot, Girona, north-eastern Spain.
"Maria Branyas has left us. She died as she wished: in her sleep, peacefully and without pain," her family wrote on her account on X, which is run by her son-in-law, on Tuesday (August 20).
Highlights
- Maria Branyas Morera, the world's oldest person, passed away at 117 in her sleep, peacefully and without pain.
- Branyas believed her longevity was due to "order, tranquility, good connection with family and friends, and staying away from toxic people."
- Born in San Francisco in 1907, Branyas lived through two world wars and recovered from COVID-19 in 2020.
"We will always remember her for her advice and her kindness."
Image credits: MariaBranyas112
Branyas had said that she felt weak in the months before her death. "The time is near. Don't cry. I don't like tears. And above all, don't suffer for me. Wherever I go, I will be happy. Death will find me worn out from having lived so long, but I want it to find me smiling, free, and satisfied."
According to the US Gerontology Research Group, the oldest person in the world is now Japan's Tomiko Itooka, who was born on May 23, 1908, and is 116.
Guinness World Records named Branyas as the world's oldest living person in January 2023 after the death of the French nun Lucile Randon, who passed away aged 118.
Branyas was born in San Francisco in 1907 and later moved to her family's native Spain
"I think longevity is also about being lucky."
Her youngest daughter, Rosa Moret, believes genetics played a part in her mother living long enough to blow out 117 candles. "She has never gone to the hospital, she has never broken any bones, she is fine, she has no pain," Moret told regional Catalan television in 2023.
But a good diet also helped, she added. "When she cooked at home, there were always vegetables at night or a Spanish tortilla. Whatever it was, it had to be a Mediterranean diet."
She believed the keys to her longevity were "order, good connection with family and friends, contact with nature," and "staying away from toxic people"
Not everyone in her family made it across the Atlantic; Branyas' father died of tuberculosis during the voyage when she was eight.
She and her mother settled in Barcelona. In 1931, she married Joan, a doctor. The couple had three children, one of whom has died, 11 grandchildren, and many great-grandchildren. Her husband died at the age of 72.
Manel Esteller, part of a team of researchers from the University of Barcelona who studied Branyas' DNA to determine the causes of her longevity, said her mind was "completely lucid," and she could even remember episodes from when she was only four years old.
She also had no cardiovascular disease. "The only things she has are mobility and hearing problems. It's incredible," Esteller said.