MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

World's oldest person passes away aged 117

“I have lived longer than I should have and death is an expected visit,” the joyful Branyas once said

María Branyas Morera, a US-born Spanish woman who was believed to be the world's longest-lived person following the passing of French nun Lucile Randon in January last year, died at the age of 117, her family announced on social media Tuesday. In her X account, she described herself as “very old, but not an idiot.” Branyas was living in a home for the elderly in Olot, Girona. Her family planned a strictly private memorial.

“Maria Branyas has left us. She has gone as she wanted: while she was sleeping, calm and without pain,” the posting in Catalan read. She was listed by the Gerontology Research Group, which validates data on people believed to be over 110 years old, as the oldest known person in the world.

Born in San Francisco on March 4, 1907, she spent some time in New Orleans, where her father founded a magazine, before sailing to Spain during World War I. At 113, she tested positive for Covid-19, albeit without any severe symptoms.

According to known records, the world's longest-lived person was Jeanne Louise Calment, a French woman who died in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days.

Since Tuesday and according to the Gerontology Research Group, the oldest person alive is Japan's 116-year-old Tomiko Itooka.

At 115, Randon became the longest-living woman on Earth. Her case was portrayed in a documentary by regisseur Sam Green because cancer expert Manel Esteller had studied her cells. “We never have the cells of a 117-year-old person within reach. They are exceptional. We study the genome, the microbes, the proteins, and their metabolism to find some clue that explains such a high survival rate; what genetic mutation she has,” the scientist said at the time.

Branyas had shown symptoms of increased weakness in recent months. The family itself has shared some words that the elderly woman had expressed a few days ago. “One day I do not know, but it is very near, this long journey will be over. Death will find me worn out from having lived so long, but I want it to find me smiling, free, and satisfied.”

“Do not cry, I do not like tears. And above all do not suffer for me. You know me, wherever I go I will be happy because somehow I will always carry you with me,” she was also quoted as saying. “I have lived longer than I should have,” she used to say, “and death is an expected visit.”

Her father died on the return trip to Catalonia when she was eight years old. Since childhood, she suffered from a hearing impairment. During the Spanish Civil War, she went into exile for a short period in France to avoid reprisals. “It is known that people who have survived periods of famine have a certain advantage as survivors,” Esteller explained.

Some 20,000 people over 100 years of age are living in Spain and more than 700 of them are over 105. Spain is the fifth country in the world with the highest life expectancy (83 years) behind Japan, Switzerland, Korea, and Singapore.