Maria was believed to be the world’s oldest person (Picture: Reuters)
Maria Branyas, an American-born Spaniard believed to be the world’s oldest person at 117, has died, her family has announced.
In a post on Ms Branyas’s account on X, formerly Twitter, 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.’
Ms Branyas was born in San Francisco on March 4, 1907, before her family returned to Spain when she was young.
At the time of her death she was living in a nursing home in Catalan town of Olot.
Her X account was called ‘Super Catalan Grandma’ and bears the description: ‘I am old, very old, but not an idiot.’
Maria celebrated her 117th birthday in March this year (Picture: Reuters)
In her final social media post, she said she was feeling weak, writing: ‘The time is near. Don’t cry, I don’t like tears. And above all, don’t suffer for me. Wherever I go, I will be happy.’
The Gerontology Research Group, which validates details of people thought to be 110 or older, listed Ms Branyas as the oldest known person in the world after the death of French nun Lucile Randon last year.
Ms Randon was known to enjoy a glass of wine everyday before she died at the age of 118.
The next oldest person listed by the Gerontology Research Group is Tomiko Itooka, from Japan, who is 116.
The only person verified to have lived past 120 was French citizen Jeanne Calment, who lived for 122 years and 164 days before her death in 1997.
Jeanne, who was born in 1875, outlived both her daughter and grandson, and was declared the oldest person ever to have lived in 1995.
Again, there are other unverified contenders for this title, including 128-year-old Johanna from South Africa
Another woman, Francisca Susano, was reportedly aged 124 at the time of her November 2021 death.
Francisca, affectionately known as Lola Iska, was believed to have been born in the Philippines in 1897.
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