World’s Oldest Person Spain’s Maria Branyas Morera Dies At 117

The world’s oldest person, Spain’s Maria Branyas Morera, who was born in the US in 1907 and lived through two world wars, has died at the age of 117, her family said. Branyas, who had lived for the last two decades in the Santa Maria del Tura nursing home in the town of Olot in north-eastern Spain, had warned in a post that she felt “weak”.

Guinness World Records officially acknowledged

Guinness World Records had officially acknowledged Branyas’s status as the world’s oldest person in January 2023 after the death, aged 118, of the French nun Lucile Randon. In the wake of Branyas’s death, the oldest living person in the world is Japan’s Tomiko Itooka, who was born on 23 May 1908 and is 116 years old, according to the US Gerontology Research Group.

About Maria Branyas

Branyas was born in San Francisco on 4 March 1907, shortly after her family moved to the US from Mexico. The entire family decided to return to their native Spain in 1915 as the first world war was under way, which complicated the ship voyage across the Atlantic.

Tragedy with her

The crossing was also marked by tragedy – her father died from tuberculosis towards the end of the voyage and his coffin was thrown into the sea. Branyas and her mother settled in Barcelona. In 1931, five years before the start of Spain’s 1936-39 civil war, she married a doctor. The couple lived together for four decades until her husband died aged 72. She had three children, including one who has already died, 11 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.

Celebrated her 116th birthday in March 2023

Branyas celebrated her 116th birthday in March 2023 at her residence home Santa Maria del Tura in Olot, Catalonia, Spain, surrounded by friends, fans and her 78-year-old daughter Rosa. Branyas was lucid and spoke fondly about her childhood, said Ben Meyers, CEO of Longevi Quest, a longevity company that unites super longevity researchers worldwide.

Free from cardiovascular disease

“Her mind is completely lucid. She remembers with impressive clarity episodes from when she was only four years old, and she has no cardiovascular disease, which is common in the elderly. The only things she has are mobility and hearing problems. It’s incredible,” the genetics professor said.

Oldest verified person

The oldest verified person to have ever lived was Jeanne Louise Calment, a Frenchwoman who died in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days.