Maria Branyas Morera, formerly the world's oldest person, died on August 19, 2024, at the age of 117. Photo / @MariaBranyas112, X
The Guinness World Record holder passed away hours after heartbreaking post from her family.
The world’s oldest known person, supercentenarian Maria Branyas Morera, has died this week at the age of 117.
Morera’s family, who ran her social media accounts, shared a heartbreaking final update on her behalf on Monday.
“I feel weak. The time is coming. Don’t cry, I don’t like tears. And above all don’t suffer for me. You know me, wherever I go I will be happy, because somehow I will always take you with me,” reads a translation of the post on X.
Morera was born March 4, 1907, in San Francisco, California, to a family who had recently moved from Mexico but originally came from Spain. She lived through two pandemics, the Spanish Civil War, both World Wars, and in January 2023 achieved a Guinness World Record as the world’s oldest person following the death of French nun Lucile Randon at age 118.
The update was accompanied by a quote from Indian poet and writer Rabindranath Tagore, which read: “And when my voice is silent with death, my heart will continue to speak of love to you.”
“I quan la meva veu calli amb la mort, el meu cor et seguirà parlant d'amor” (Tagore).
— Super Àvia Catalana (@MariaBranyas112) August 19, 2024
Em sento feble. S’acosta l’hora. No ploreu, no m’agraden les llàgrimes. I sobre tot no patiu per mi. Ja em coneixeu, allà on vagi serè feliç, doncs d'alguna manera us portaré sempre amb mi.
Morera’s family confirmed her death in a post to X on Tuesday, writing: “Maria Branyas has left us. She has died as she wanted: in her sleep, peacefully and without pain.
“A few days ago she told us: ‘One day I will leave here. I will not try coffee again, nor eat yoghurt ... I will also leave my memories, my reflections, and I will cease to exist in this body. 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.’
“We will always remember her for her advice and kindness.”
Many have expressed their condolences on social media, with one fan simply writing: “Rest in peace – it has been an honour to follow her through networks.”
“Super grandma! You have been and will be [someone] to follow. I want to be like you when I grow up. We’ll see each other one day – hopefully far away – up there,” said another.
The 117-year-old had spent the past 20 years in the Santa Maria del Tura nursing home in the town of Olot in north-eastern Spain, reports The Guardian.
La Maria Branyas ens ha deixat. Ha mort com ella volia: mentre dormia, tranquil·la i sense dolor.
— Super Àvia Catalana (@MariaBranyas112) August 20, 2024
Fa uns dies ens deia:
“Un dia me n'aniré d'aquí. No tornaré a provar cafè, ni a menjar iogurt, ni a acaronar a la Fada..., deixaré també els meus records, les meves reflexions... 👇
According to the outlet, the supercentenarian contracted Covid-19 in 2020, just weeks after her 113th birthday. However, she made a full recovery.
Morera, who has almost 19,000 followers on X at the time of writing, fashioned herself on social media as “Super Avia Catalana”, or “Super Catalan Grandma”. In her biography on X, she wrote: “I’m old, very old, but not an idiot.”
Last year, Morera’s youngest daughter Rosa Moret claimed her mother’s genetics were responsible for her longevity, telling a regional Catalan TV show: “She has never gone to the hospital, she has never broken any bones, she is fine, she has no pain.”
The oldest living person is now Japan’s Tomiko Itooka, who was born on May 23, 1908, and is 116, according to the US Gerontology Research Group. Prior to Lucile Randon, Kane Tanaka was the world’s oldest living person – she died aged 119 on April 19, 2022.
The oldest known living person in New Zealand is currently Aileen Kars, who celebrated her 110th birthday in September 2023.
In May, it was reported that global life expectancy is forecast to increase by 4.9 years in males and 4.2 years in females between 2022 and 2050, according to the latest findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2021.
Global life expectancy is forecasted to increase from 73.6 years of age in 2022 to 78.1 years of age in 2050, according to the findings. Meanwhile, global healthy life expectancy (HALE) – the average number of years a person can expect to live in good health – is predicted to increase from 64.8 years in 2022 to 67.4 years in 2050.