The world’s oldest living person, Spanish pensioner Maria Branyas Morera, who was born in the United States and survived a plague epidemic and two world wars, has died aged 117, her family has revealed.
“Maria Branyas has left us. She died as she wished: in her sleep, in peace and without pain,” her family wrote on their X account. “We will always remember her for her advice and her kindness,” they said.
Branyas spent his last two decades in the Santa María del Tura nursing home in the northeastern Spanish town of Olot, celebrating his 117th birthday there last March.
Experts had marvelled at his mental and physical health, but in a heartbreaking final message to his social media followers on Tuesday, he warned he was feeling “weak”.
“The time is near. Don’t cry, I don’t like tears. And above all, don’t suffer for me,” she said on the account, which is managed by her family. “Wherever I go, I will be happy.”
María Branyas Morera, who was the oldest person in the world, celebrated her 117th birthday in March
Branyas was born in San Francisco in 1907. Pictured: Branyas in 1925 when he was just 18 years old.
Guinness World Records officially recognized Branyas’ status as the world’s oldest person in January 2023 following the death of French nun Lucile Randon at age 118.
Following Branyas’ death, the world’s oldest living person is Japanese Tomiko Itooka, who was born on May 23, 1908 and is 116 years old, according to the Gerontology Research Group of the United States.
Branyas was born in San Francisco in 1907 as the city was suffering a second wave of bubonic plague.
His family made the decision to return to Spain in 1915 during the First World War after his father Josep fell ill.
He eventually died of tuberculosis on the ship crossing the Atlantic, while his daughter, now a centenarian, was injured in a fall during the same voyage and later discovered she had lost hearing in one ear.
It survived two world wars, the Spanish flu pandemic, the Spanish Civil War and, most recently, Covid-19.
She married the Catalan doctor Joan Moret in 1931, at the age of 23. Her husband died more than 46 years ago when he was 71.
She wrote on their anniversary that “I will always carry him in my heart every day.”
She had three children, 11 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, and attributes her old age to ‘order, tranquility’ and ‘staying away from toxic people’.
Ms Morera became the oldest person in the world after the death of French nun Lucile Randon in January 2023
Morera married the Catalan doctor Joan Moret at the age of 23 in 1931.
Her priority is to live a stress-free life and since she was 92 years old she has lived in a supervised housing in the Catalan town of Olot.
He played the piano, read newspapers and exercised every morning until he was 105.
Unusually for her age, Ms Morera is an active user of social media site X, formerly Twitter, and regularly provides her more than 16,000 followers with updates on her health and well-being.
She celebrated her 117th birthday in March with a cake and posted to mark the occasion: “Good morning world. Today I turn 117. I’ve come this far.”
Scientist Manel Esteller told Spanish media outlet ABC: ‘His mind is completely lucid.
‘He remembers with impressive clarity events that occurred when he was only four years old and does not suffer from any cardiovascular disease, which is common in older people.
“It is clear that there is a genetic component because there are several members of his family who are over 90 years old.”
In an effort to help others, Ms. Morera agreed to undergo some tests to help scientists learn more about the secrets of a long life.
The title of the longest-lived person ever to have lived belongs to Jeanne Louise Calment, whose life span lasted 122 years and 164 days, according to the Guinness Book of Records.
