Maria Branyas Morera, the world’s oldest person, has died at the age of 117 in Olot, Spain, her family announced on social media.
Recognised globally for surviving the 1918 Spanish flu, two world wars, the Spanish Civil War, and the recent Covid-19 pandemic, Morera had an indomitable spirit. She contracted Covid-19 in 2020 when she turned 113, but recovered rapidly.
“Maria Branyas departed as she wished: sleeping peacefully, without pain,” her family posted, recounting her recent words: “One day I will leave here…and I will cease to exist in this body…Death will find me exhausted from living so long, but I want it to find me smiling, free and satisfied.”
“I feel weak. My hour is near. Don’t cry, I don’t like tears. And above all, don’t feel sorry for me. Where I’m going, I’ll be happy,” her family shared from her account.
Before her passing, Morera held the title of the world’s oldest person, authenticated by the US Gerontology Research Group (USGRG) and the Guinness World Records.
She inherited the title from Lucile Randon of France, who died in January 2023 at the age of 118.
Following Morera’s passing, Japan’s Tomiko Itooka, born on 23 May 1908 and currently 116 years old, is now the world's oldest living person, according to the USGRG.
Originally from San Francisco, USA, where her family had migrated, Morera returned to Spain in 1915. She spent over two decades in Santa Maria del Tura, a retirement home in Olot, Catalonia.
Born on 4 March 1907, she married a doctor (who died at the age of 72) in 1931. Together, they had three children, one of whom died at the age of 86, along with 11 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.
