Maria Branyas Morera, an American-born Spanish woman believed to be the oldest person in the world, has died, according to her family. She was 117.

Ms. Morera died on Aug. 19 in Olot, Spain, according to an employee at her nursing home, Residencia Santa Maria del Tura. Her family wrote in a post on her social media account that she had died peacefully, in her sleep.

“A few days ago she told us: ‘One day I will leave here. I will not try coffee again, nor eat yogurt, nor pet my dog’” her family wrote in Spanish in the post. “‘I will also leave my memories, my reflections and I will cease to exist in this body. One day I don’t know, but it’s very close, this long journey will be over.’”

Born on March 4, 1907, in San Francisco, Ms. Morera grew up in several American cities, including New Orleans, where her father, a journalist, started a Spanish-language magazine that went bankrupt, according to several news stories written about her life. Facing dire straits, the family returned to Spain when Ms. Morera was a child.


There, she lived through the country’s civil war and the brutal Franco regime. She had clear memories of the D-Day invasion at Normandy, she told the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia.


“I haven’t done anything special to get to this age,” she said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País earlier this year.

Ms. Morera went on to marry a doctor, with whom she lived in Girona, Spain, for 40 years. The couple had three children, and Ms. Morera stayed home to raise them.

“She had a quiet life, without work stress,” her daughter, Rose, told El País.

In later years, Ms. Morera enjoyed more than a dozen grandchildren. She survived a bout with Covid, as well as the general anxiety and isolation of the pandemic — a feat she found easier, she said at the time, because she remembered a world without the modern-day comforts to which most people had become accustomed.

“We lost an endearing woman, who has taught us the value of life and the wisdom of the years,” Salvador Illa, the president of the Catalan regional government, said in a post on social media.

Ms. Morera became the oldest living person in January 2023, after the death of Lucile Randon, a French nun known as Sister André. According to the Gerontology Research Group, which tracks the world’s supercentenarians, the next-oldest living person after Ms. Morera is Tomiko Itooka of Japan, who is 116 years old.

Information about Ms. Morera’s survivors was not immediately available.

Reaching 117 comes with a toll. Ms. Morera suffered hearing and vision loss, and struggled to move freely in recent years. Still, she had no indication of cancer, heart disease or other mortal illnesses. Having been born before the emergence of the telephone, Ms. Morera came to embrace the digital revolution, fashioning herself on social media as “Super Àvia Catalana,” or “Super Catalan Grandma.” From there, she posted bite-size pieces of life advice, observations and jokes to thousands of followers.

In her biography on social media, she wrote: “I’m old, very old, but not an idiot.”

Since becoming the oldest living person, she had to manage a torrent of media interest, playfully stymying the reporters who lined up outside her nursing home for interviews. The attention eventually became too much, and her family stopped allowing visitors.

Like many supercentenarians, Ms. Morera became the subject of scientific fascination. Her habits and lifestyle and genetic makeup have been studied in the hopes of understanding her longevity.

“What do you expect from life?” a doctor once asked her while retrieving blood samples for study, according to El País.

Ms. Morera, unmoved, answered simply: “Death.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/20/world/europe/worlds-oldest-person-maria-branyas-dead.

May her soul rest in peace,

Reaching the remarkable age of 117 is an extraordinary feat and Branyas Morera's longevity is a testament to the remarkable resilience of the human spirit. her life spanned over a century, allowing her to witness immense historical and technological changes throughout her lifetime including two world wars

but how did they know she was the oldest person on earth

We have a lot of old grandmas and grandpas in our villages across Africa and no one knows their real age

I believe my grandma was older than this woman before she died last year

Tar! My grandma is 150. Rest in peace.

Treasure17:
Tar! My grandma is 150. Rest in peace.

150, are you serious man?

God1000:
150, are you serious man?

Serious.

Some old piance for Benin old pass her

she saw it all....

Rest in peace ma. 3 years short of 120


Genesis 6:3
And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for he also is flesh; yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.”

Someday just posted his grandma who is 194. How Dem dey do Africa?

There are more people that have over achieved this feat in Nigeria.

Make GWR come those villages for this Title.

Rest in peace 🕊️ madam

Many claims that there are older people than her here in Nigeria. But no evidence i.e no date of birth.

RIP Maria Branyas Morera.
My great grandma is above 130 and though she doesn't look this frail like the one I'm seeing here, we have older people here in Nigeria with no medical records to back their claims. No thanks to our porous health systems and lacks of good health insurance

There are several older persons in different villages in Africa but unfortunately, their births were not recorded

RIP ma. This is the type of death that warrants RIP.

Nah.... wrong

117 world's oldest for where.
Once you are the oldest outside Africa, they automatically tag you the oldest worldwide.

RIP Mama

See some African country President’s age mate

Oldest in the US not the world.

We have 170 like this

The one una know be that... I know one of over 120yrs still living here in Lagos.

Them dey whine?

World oldest person? Does my grandma look like a joke to y'all? My Dad is 89. So imagine how old his mum will be.

Those women for Ñaija wen Dem dey add "NEE" join their names dey always dey old. I am sure this person will be a daughter to one of the old ladies from Ñaija if she is a Nigerian but white always want to dominate.

God1000:
Maria Branyas Morera, an American-born Spanish woman believed to be the oldest person in the world, has died, according to her family. She was 117.




https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/20/world/europe/worlds-oldest-person-maria-branyas-dead.

Nonsense, how can 117 be the oldest person in the world....?.

Abaziaka:
My grandma is above 130 and doesn't even look this frail like the one I'm seeing here

Just like Obi, you go explain tire.

No evidence

Why did God reduce our lifespan? Methuselah did nearly 1000 years. Sera gave birth at 90.
These days many people don't even live up to 90 years.

Congratulations, mama, for breaking this powerful record. You won't be mourned; you will be celebrated!

This people wey dey do this record no dey visit Africa at all

But then how do women have such fantastic memory in old age?
As a man, one of my biggest fears about old age is dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases.

She is the oldest person that was documented.

Which world oldest?
Oyibo and colonization