Maria Branyas, recognised as the world’s oldest living person, has passed away peacefully at the age of 117 in a Spanish nursing home. Branyas, who witnessed two world wars and numerous significant historical events, died in her sleep, a spokesperson for the nursing home confirmed on Tuesday.
In January 2023, Branyas was officially declared the oldest living person by Guinness World Records. Her passing was announced on her social media account, managed by her daughter. “Maria Branyas has left us. She has died as she wanted: in her sleep, peacefully and without pain,” the post read. Her bio on X, formerly Twitter, humorously noted, “I am old, very old, but I’m not an idiot.”
Earlier this week, Branyas hinted at her impending death in a social media post, stating, “I feel weak. The time is coming. Don’t cry, I don’t like tears….You know me, wherever I go, I will be happy.”
Born on 4 March 1907 in San Francisco, California, Branyas moved to Catalonia, Spain, with her family at the age of seven. She spent the remainder of her life in the region, enduring the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, Spain’s Civil War from 1936 to 1939, both World Wars, and more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Branyas attributed her remarkable longevity to “order, tranquillity, good connections with family and friends, contact with nature, emotional stability, no worries, no regrets, lots of positivity, and staying away from toxic people.”
Upon turning 117, Branyas was identified by Guinness as the 12th-oldest verified person in recorded history. The oldest remains Jeanne Calment, a French woman who lived to be 122 years and 164 days.
“One day, I don’t know when, but it’s very close, this long journey will be over,” Branyas reflected in one of her final posts. “Death will find me worn out from having lived so long, but I want it to find me smiling, free, and satisfied.”
