The world’s oldest living person, María Branyas Morera, passed away at her home on 19 August 2024 in Olot, Catalonia, Spain, at the age of 117. Her passing was confirmed by her official Twitter profile, managed by her family.
Maria Branyas Morera was born in San Francisco, California, USA on 4 March 1907, to parents Josep Branyas Julià (born 1877) and Teresa Morera Laqué (born 1880). She had three siblings. Her family emigrated to San Francisco in October 1906, but returned to Spain in May 1915.
On 16 July 1931, she married Joan Moret Roura and had three children; August (1932), Teresa (1933) and Rosa (1944). On 18 July 1936, when the Spanish Civil War breaks out, her husband flees to France and re-enters Spain through San Sebastian, where he had some friends who helped him. He is assigned as a military doctor to Trujillo, Extremadura. After a while, Maria Branyas Morera and their two children, August and Teresa, moved there. In 1939, at the end of the Civil War, the entire family returned to Catalonia.
On 22 December 2019, Branyas Morera became the oldest known living person in Spain following the death of Josefa Santos Gonzalez.
On 17 January 2023, following the passing of 118-year-old Lucile Randon, she became the world’s oldest living person.
At the time of her passing, Mrs. Branyas Morera was the 8th-oldest person in recorded history with a fully documented and validated age.
LongeviQuest has confirmed that upon the passing of Mrs. Branyas Morera, Tomiko Itooka of Japan has become the world’s oldest person.
LongeviQuest sends our deepest condolences to the bereaved family and friends of María Branyas Morera.
