Who is Maria Branyas Morera? All about the new 'world's oldest person' as Lucile Randon aka Sister Andre dies aged 118

Maria Branyas Morera is now officially the world's oldest person after Sister Andre, the former owner of the mantle, passed away on Tuesday, January 17, 2023, at age 118.

Lucile Randon, more commonly known as Sister Andre, was a French nun. She drew her last breath at the Sainte-Catherine-Laboure nursing home in Toulon, France.

Sister Andre, born on February 11, 1904, in Ales, was a devout Catholic. She worked until 108 and spent her remaining years in the Sainte-Catherine-Laboure nursing home in Toulon, France.

The nun lived through two world wars and 27 French heads of state. In 2021, she made the Guinness World Record as the oldest person to survive Covid-19.

Her successor, Maria Branyas, 115, was born in California on March 4, 1907, and emigrated to Spain in 1915 with her family. She currently resides in a care home in Olot, Spain.

The supercentenarian even has an active Twitter account where she retweeted the news of her taking up the title of the world's oldest person.

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Maria Branyas Morera contracted Covid at age 113

Maria Branyas Morera will be celebrating her 116th in a couple of months. She is the oldest surviving emigrant, the oldest surviving American-born, and the second-oldest person to have ever lived in Spain. After Sister Andre's death, she is now the oldest living person in the world, as validated by the Gerontology Research Group.

Maria married Joan Moret in 1931 at the Sanctuary of Els Àngels, Girona, and subsequently had three children. Reportedly, the supercentenarian had 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren as of August 2019.

The American-born Spaniard tested positive for Covid in April 2020 when she was 113, and is currently one of the oldest people in the world to have received both doses of the coronavirus vaccine. Her predecessor, Sister Andre, was the oldest recorded person to survive Covid in 2021.

Maria's family emigrated to San Francisco in 1906 and then traveled to New Orleans. They later emigrated to Spain in 1915. Maria Branyas had four siblings and was raised by a single mother after her father died of tuberculosis.

Maria Branyas Morera, with her family in New Orleans, 1911 (Image via MariaBranyas112/Twitter).

Maria Branyas injured her eardrum as a child while emigrating to Spain aboard a ship, and has been deaf in one ear since. Her other ear also has partial hearing, and Maria largely uses technology to communicate with her family.

Allegedly, the 115-year-old read newspapers every day until the age of 110.

When asked about the secret to her long life, Maria Branyas said that longevity is largely about luck and genetics. She added that following good nutrition and lifestyle, as well as surrounding oneself with positivity and genuine people, has worked in her favor.

Maria Branyas has also espoused the benefits of yogurt.

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Former world's oldest person, Sister Andre, said work kept her alive

Sister Andre, born as Lucile Randon, into a Protestant family in the French town of Ales, converted to Catholicism and was baptized at 26. She became the world's oldest person in 2022 after the death of Japanese resident Kane Tanaka at 119.

Before becoming a Catholic nun, she took care of children during the Second World War.

She was part of the order, Daughters of Charity, and worked at a hospital in Vichy for most of her life.

Sister Andre told the AFP news agency in April 2022:

"People say that work kills, for me work kept me alive, I kept working until I was 108."

Reportedly, she would help other elderly, some of whom were much younger than herself, despite being blind and needing a wheelchair to get around. She also admitted to liking chocolate and enjoying a glass of wine every day.

A spokesman from the Sainte-Catherine-Laboure nursing home announced her death on Tuesday and noted:

"There is great sadness but... it was her desire to join her beloved brother. For her, it's a liberation."

Sister Andre's death marks the fourth validated supercentenarian to pass away in January 2023, joining American Bessie Hendricks, Japanese Hide Hamabe, and Barbadian-American Ira Jarvis.