Maria Branyas Morera, an American-born Catalan supercentenarian, passed away on August 19, 2024, at a nursing home in Spain. It was later announced that she was the world’s oldest woman at the time of her death.
Maria’s family shared the news on social media, confirming her passing at the age of 117. Guinness World Records (GWR) also issued a statement, noting that she was 117 years and 168 days old, making her the eighth-oldest person with a verifiable age in history.
“Maria passed away peacefully at the nursing home in Catalonia, Spain, where she resided for the past decades,” stated GWR. On Tuesday, her family tweeted from her account, “She has gone the way she wanted, in her sleep, at peace, and without pain.”
Shortly before her death, Maria had told her family, “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 it to find me smiling, free, and satisfied.”
Born on March 4, 1907, Maria’s life spanned more than a century of remarkable history. Her family emigrated from Spain to the United States when she was just a year old, and later returned to Barcelona during World War I. She lived through the Spanish Civil War, World War II, and even survived COVID-19 after testing positive in May 2020.
Despite her advanced age, Maria remained active on social media with the help of her daughter. Her Twitter bio reflected her sharp wit: “I am old, very old, but not an idiot.”
Maria was recognized as the world’s oldest living person by GWR in January 2023, following the death of French nun Sister André at the age of 118. When asked about the secret to her long life, Maria told GWR, “I have lived such a long life thanks to order, tranquility, good connections with family and friends, contact with nature, emotional stability, no worries, no regrets, lots of positivity, and staying away from toxic people.”
“I think longevity is also about being lucky. Luck and good genetics,” she added.
According to the Gerontology Research Group, a scientific nonprofit that validates the ages of supercentenarians, the title of the world’s oldest living woman now belongs to Tomiko Itooka, a Japanese woman who is 116 years old. The oldest person ever recorded was Jeanne Louise Calment, who died at the age of 122 years and 164 days, according to GWR.
