Lucile Randon

BIOGRAPHY

Lucile Randon was born on 11 February 1904 in Ales, Occitanie region, France to Paul Randon (17 June 1866 – 27 April 1938) and Alphonsine Delphine Yeta Randon (née Soutoul; 27 March 1869 – 21 August 1936).

Randon was born in a set of twins. However, her twin sister Lydie Randon (11 February 1904 – 4 August 1905) died at the age of 17 (almost 18) months. Randon almost died alongside her sister, which her doctor predicted would happen, but managed to recover.

Randon remembered her two brothers: Andre (22 April 1892 – 7 September 1971) and Lucien (12 April 1895 – 15 July 1972), one of them seriously injured, returning from World War I in 1918 when she was 14. She later stated in an interview that it was the happiest day of her life.

Randon grew up in a Protestant family; her paternal grandfather was a pastor. She converted to Catholicism at the age of 19, and at the age of 40, she became a nun in the congregation of the Sisters of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul in Paris, taking the name of Sister Andre in honor of her older brother, with whom she was very close.

Randon worked as a teacher and a governess for various families, including the Peugeot family who founded the French car manufacturer. She also looked after children during World War II. After the war, she spent 28 years working with orphans and elderly people at a hospital in Vichy, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region. She then spent three decades working in a nursing home located in Savoie, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes.

At the age of 91, in 1995, Randon suffered a heart attack which required surgery on her carotid artery.

In 2009, Randon moved to a retirement home in Toulon, Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur region, France from Savoie, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes. In 2010, Randon said it was to get closer to her familial roots in the region, saying she was a Toulonnais by blood.

At the time of her 115th birthday in 2019, Randon was asked about the secret to her longevity. She said that she did not have a secret, but believed God wanted her to live the years that her late twin sister didn’t get to live, citing when she had almost died as a baby and again at the age of 91.

In 2019, Randon was made an honorary citizen of the city and received a letter from Pope Francis.

On 16 January 2021, Randon tested positive for COVID-19 during an outbreak that saw 53 out of the 90 residents of her retirement home infected with the disease. Randon was kept in isolation in her room and did not suffer any symptoms other than feeling tired.

On 8 February 2021, just three days before her 117th birthday, it was reported that she had recovered, making her the oldest confirmed survivor of the disease. When asked by a journalist if she was afraid to have COVID-19, she answered: “No, I wasn’t afraid, because I wasn’t afraid to die.” She went on to celebrate her 117th birthday on 11 February.

RECOGNITION

Randon became the oldest known living nun in the world following the death of 115-year-old Marie-Josephine Gaudette of Italy. Randon subsequently became the oldest ecclesiastical person ever recorded after surpassing Gaudette‘s final age of 115 years, 110 days on 2 June 2019. Randon is also the first and only nun to turn 116, 117, and 118.

Randon became the oldest living person in France (and in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur region), following the death of 114-year-old Honorine Rondello on 19 October 2017. Following the death of 114-year-old Gabrielle des Robert on 3 December 2018, Randon became the last known surviving French person born in 1904.

On 11 February 2019, Randon celebrated her 115th birthday, becoming the third person in the history of France to verifiably reach this age, after Jeanne Calment and Marie Brémont. Since surpassing Bremont’s final age of 115 years, 42 days on 26 March 2019, Randon has been the second-oldest validated French person ever, behind only Calment, who lived to the age of 122 years, 164 days. Randon is the second French person to verifiably reach the ages of 116, 117, and 118.

Following the death of Valentine Ligny on 4 January 2022, Randon became the last known surviving French person born before 1909.