World’s oldest person dies at age 117

Not many people can say they’ve survived two worldwide pandemics and two world wars, but Maria Branyas Morera could.
Branyas Morera, a U.S.-born Spaniard, died Monday at age 117. Gerontology Research Group, which conducts research with the mission to “slow and ultimately reverse age-related decline,” had Branyas Morera listed as the world’s oldest known person.
The new oldest person in the world is Japan’s Tomiko Itooka at 116 years and 90 days.
You don’t get to age 117 without some hardships. During the boat ride as her family immigrated from the U.S. to Spain in 1915, Branyas Morera lost her hearing in one ear due to a fall, according to GRG.
Near the end of Branyas Morera’s life, her hearing faded in the other ear. Those around her communicated via text-to-speech technology in her later years.
On the same voyage to Spain, her father passed away from tuberculosis.
Aside from her hearing loss, however, Branyas Morera remained in good health most of her life.
“She has never gone to the hospital, she has never broken any bones,” her youngest daughter, Rosa Moret, told a regional Catalan TV station in 2023. “She is fine, she has no pain.”
In 2020 at age 113, Branyas Morera tested positive for COVID-19, according to GRG. She was, at that point, the oldest known survivor of the virus, though she has since been surpassed. In an interview with The Observer, Branyas Morera urged the public to treat senior citizens better.
“This pandemic has revealed that older people are the forgotten ones of our society,” Branyas Morera said. “They fought their whole lives, sacrificed time and their dreams for today’s quality of life. They didn’t deserve to leave the world in this way.”
More than 100 years earlier, Branyas Morera lived through the Spanish flu, which, according to the CDC, claimed at least 50 million lives.
Branyas Morera’s family announced her passing via a post on X Tuesday, stating that she’d died “as she wanted: in her sleep, peacefully and without pain” (translated from Catalán by Google). Her family also shared a quote which Branyas Morera had shared with them a few days ago:
“One day I will leave here,” she said. “I will not try coffee again, nor eat yogurt, nor caress the Fairy. 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. Death will find me worn out from having lived so long, but I want it to find me smiling, free and satisfied” (translated from Catalán by Google).
Her family concluded the post with a note. “We will always remember her for her advice and kindness,” her family said.