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The world’s oldest living person, Maria Branyas Morera, has died at the age of 117 years and 168 days in Catalonia, Spain, her family said on Tuesday.
Born in San Francisco, USA, in 1907, she lived through two world wars, the Spanish Civil War and the flu pandemic of 1918. She endured many personal hardships in her early years, including losing her father when her family emigrated to Spain and suffering hearing loss as a child.
Her remarkable longevity was recognized by both the Gerontology Research Group and the Guinness Book of Records, and Branyas Morera became a symbol of resilience as she survived Covid at the age of 113.
“Maria Branyas has left us. She died as she wished: in her sleep, peacefully and without pain,” her family wrote on their X-account. Branyas Morera died on August 19.
“We will always remember her for her advice and kindness.”
Catalan President Salvador Illa re-shared the post and expressed his condolences to the family.
“Maria Branyas, the grandmother of Catalonia and the oldest person in the world, has left us. We are losing a lovely woman who taught us the value of life and the wisdom of the years.”
Branyas Morera, who has spent the last 20 years at the Santa Maria del Tura nursing home in Olot, northeastern Spain, said in a post on Tuesday that she was feeling “weak.”
Her account was managed by her family.
“The time is near,” she added. “Please don’t cry. I don’t like tears. And most of all, don’t worry about me. Wherever I go, I will be happy.”
In January 2023, Branyas Morera was recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest person in the world after French nun Lucile Randon died at the age of 118.
According to the Gerontology Research Group, Branyas Morera injured her eardrum in a fall during her emigration to Spain, resulting in permanent hearing loss in one ear.
“Towards the end of the journey, Branyas Morera’s father, Joseph Branyas Julia, died of pulmonary tuberculosis at the age of 37, leaving Branyas Morera’s mother to raise the family of five alone,” it said.
Branyas Morera tested positive for Covid in April 2020 but recovered and was, at the time, the oldest recorded survivor of the disease.
In an interview with the Observer, She pushed for better treatment of older people.
“This pandemic has shown that older people are the forgotten ones of our society. They have struggled all their lives, sacrificing time and their dreams for the quality of life we have today. They do not deserve to leave the world in this way,” she said.
Branyas Morera married Dr. Joan Moret in 1931 and they had two daughters and a son. He died in 1976.
In August 2019, it was reported that she has 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
On X she described herself as “Soc vella, molt vella, però no idiota”, Meaning: “I am old, very old, but not stupid.”
She frequently posted in Catalan on her social media, sharing thoughts about her life, memories from the past and even recipes for Spain’s famous dish, paella.
In February last year, American documentary filmmaker Sam Green visited Branyas Morera during the shooting of his film The oldest person in the worldThe documentary, filming of which began in 2015, features interviews with the oldest people in the world.
The filmmakers plan to hold a “premiere” every ten years, an event that Branyas Morera wanted to attend. “I will be there for the premiere,” she wrote on X.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, she attributed her longevity to “order, calm, good connections with family and friends, contact with nature, emotional stability, no worries, no regrets, lots of positivity and distancing herself from toxic people.”
“I think longevity also has something to do with luck. With luck and good genes,” she added.
According to CBS News, her youngest daughter, Rosa Moret, once attributed her mother’s longevity to “genes.”
“She has never been to hospital, she has never broken a bone, she is fine, she is not in pain,” Ms Moret told Catalan regional television in 2023.
After the death of Branyas Morera, the title of the oldest living person in the world passed to 116-year-old Japanese woman Tomiko Itooka.
