Maria Branyas Morera, recognized as the world’s oldest person, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 117 in northeastern Spain, her family announced. In a message posted on the X platform , the family wrote “Maria Branyas has left us. She passed away peacefully in her sleep, as she wished.”
Branyas had witnessed numerous significant historical events, including the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, both World Wars, the Spanish Civil War, and the COVID-19 pandemic, which she contracted in 2020 at the age of 113.
Recognized as the oldest living person by the Gerontology Research Group and Guinness World Records, Branyas succeeded Frenchwoman Lucile Randon, who passed away at 118 in January 2023. Following Branyas’ death, the title of world’s oldest person now belongs to Japanese woman Tomohiko Itoka, born on May 23, 1908, and currently aged 116, according to the Gerontology Research Group.