Spanish woman Maria Branyas, who was the oldest person in the world, according to the Gerontology Research Group of the United States and the Guinness Book of Records, has died at the age of 117, according to an official announcement from her family on Tuesday (h/t Univision).
Branyas was born in San Francisco on March 4, 1907 after her family moved to the United States from Mexico. Her family would return to their native Spain in 1915, eventually settling in Barcelona.
“María Branyas has left us,” her family wrote on the X social media platform, “she died as she wanted: in her sleep, peacefully and without pain.”
“A few days ago he told us: one day I will leave here. I will never taste coffee again, nor eat yogurt (…) And I will cease to exist in this body. One day, which I do not know, but which is very close, this long journey will be over,” the family said. “We will always remember her for her advice and her kindness.”
Branyas was the world’s oldest person, replacing Frenchwoman Lucile Randon at the top after she died in January 2023 at the age of 118. Branyas was also the eighth oldest person in history, per the EFE.
Now, the older living person is Japanese Tomiko Itooka, who was born on May 23, 1908 and is 116 years old, according to the Gerontology Research Group of the United States.
