Maria Branyas Morera, an American-born Spaniard considered the world’s oldest person at 117 years old, has died, her family said on Tuesday.
In a post on Branyas’ X/Twitter account, her family wrote in Catalan: ‘Maria Branyas has left us. She has gone the way she wanted: in her sleep, at peace, and without pain.’
The Gerontology Research Group (GRG), which validates details of people thought to be 110 or older, listed Branyas as the oldest known person in the world after the death of French nun Lucile Randon last year. ALSO READ: Oldest living person in the world is now a woman living in Catalonia, aged 115.
The next oldest person listed by the GRG is now Japan’s Tomiko Itooka, who is 116 years old.
Branyas was born in San Francisco on 4 March 1907. After living for some years in New Orleans, where her father founded a magazine, her family returned to Spain when she was young. Branyas said that she had memories of crossing the Atlantic Ocean during World War I, which complicated the ship’s voyage.
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.
Her X account is called ‘Super Catalan Grandma’ and bears the description: ‘I am old, very old, but not an idiot’.
At age 113, Branyas tested positive for Covid-19 during the global pandemic, but avoided developing severe symptoms that claimed tens of thousands of older Spaniards.
Branyas had lived through the 1918 flu, two World Wars and the Spanish Civil War. She had three children, including one who had already died, 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
At the time of her death she was living in a nursing home in the Catalan town of Olot.
Her family wrote that Branyas told them days before her death: ‘I don’t know when, but very soon this long journey will come to an end. Death will find me worn down from having lived so much, but I want to meet it with a smile, feeling free and satisfied.’
The new Catalan president, Salvador Illa, posted on X: ‘Maria Branyas, the grandmother of Catalonia and the oldest person in the world, has left us. We lose an endearing woman, who has taught us the value of life and the wisdom of the years. My condolences to her family. RIP.’
⚫️ Adeu a la Maria Branyas.
Amb 117 anys, era la dona més longeva del món | @cfrancoalonso @MariaBranyas112
➕ Info a https://t.co/YAMCh4jQI8 pic.twitter.com/hdsx4YteKy
— RTVE Notícies (@rtvenoticies) August 20, 2024
La Maria Branyas ens ha deixat. Ha mort com ella volia: mentre dormia, tranquil·la i sense dolor.
Fa uns dies ens deia:
“Un dia me n’aniré d’aquí. No tornaré a provar cafè, ni a menjar iogurt, ni a acaronar a la Fada…, deixaré també els meus records, les meves reflexions… 👇— Super Àvia Catalana (@MariaBranyas112) August 20, 2024
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