World’s Oldest Person Maria Branyas Morera Dies at 117
Maria Branyas Morera, the world’s oldest living person, has passed away at the age of 117, CBS News reports.
Branyas, who was born in the United States and lived through a century of historical events, including two world wars, the Spanish Civil War, the 1918 flu pandemic, and the COVID-19 pandemic, died peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday.
“Maria Branyas has left us. She died as she wished: in her sleep, peacefully and without pain. We will always remember her for her advice and kindness,” her family wrote on the social media platform X.
Branyas, who had resided at the Santa Maria del Tura nursing home in the northeastern Spanish town of Olot for the past two decades, had warned in a post on Tuesday that she felt “weak” and that “the time is near.” She urged her followers not to cry or suffer for her, adding, “Wherever I go, I will be happy.”
Guinness World Records officially acknowledged Branyas as the world’s oldest person in January 2023 following the death of French nun Lucile Randon at the age of 118. Following Branyas’s passing, the title now belongs to Japan’s Tomiko Itooka, born on May 23, 1908, at the age of 116, according to the U.S. Gerontology Research Group.
Branyas contracted COVID-19 in 2020, just weeks after celebrating her 113th birthday. Despite being confined to her room at the nursing home, she made a full recovery. Her youngest daughter, Rosa Moret, attributed her mother’s longevity to genetics, noting that she “has never gone to the hospital, she has never broken any bones, she is fine, she has no pain.”
Born on March 4, 1907, in California, Branyas spent the first few years of her life in San Francisco before her family returned to Spain in 1915, settling in Catalonia. She married Joan Moret in 1931 and had three children, 11 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren.
Despite numerous hardships, including the loss of her father to pulmonary tuberculosis during their voyage from the US to Spain, Branyas maintained a positive outlook on life. She shared her wisdom with her social media followers, advising them to “never, ever, become a bitter person no matter what.”
