World's oldest person Maria Branyas dies at 117 as family says she went 'the way she wanted'

Maria Branyas, an American-born Spaniard who was recognized as the world's oldest person at 117 years old, has passed away, her family announced on Tuesday.

In a heartfelt post on Maria's social media account , her family shared: "Maria Branyas has left us. She has gone the way she wanted: in her sleep, at peace, and without pain." The Gerontology Research Group, which verifies the ages of supercentenarians (those aged 110 or older), had listed Maria as the oldest known living person following the death of French nun Lucile Randon last year.

Born in San Francisco on March 4, 1907, Maria moved back to Spain with her family when she was a child. At the time of her passing, she resided in a nursing home in the Catalan town of Olot.

• World's tallest man Sultan Kosen and shortest woman reunite six years after viral photos
• 'World's oldest man' celebrates his '123rd birthday' and is a great-great-grandad

Her social media account, aptly named "Super Catalan Grandma" carries the description: "I am old, very old, but not an idiot." She had told her followers that she had been feeling "weak" in a heartbreaking final post on Tuesday.

"The time is near. Don't cry, I don't like tears. And above all, don't suffer for me. Wherever I go, I will be happy," she wrote on the X account, which is run by her family.

Maria's birth in San Francisco came at a time when the city was suffering from a second outbreak of Bubonic plague. Her family decided to move back to Spain in 1915 after her father became ill.

She settled in Barcelona and lived through the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 as well as the Spanish Civil War, which she said she has “very bad memories” of. Maria married a Catalan doctor named Joan Moret in 1931 and the couple had three children.

• 'World's oldest dog' Bobi has Guinness World Record suspended as age is probed
• 'Cursed woman' declares 'I feel great' after giving birth to twins at the age of 70

Maria's husband died in 1976. She also outlived her son, who died at the age of 86. Over a century after surviving the 1918 pandemic, Maria also survived Covid-19, which she contracted shortly after her 113th birthday.

In a 2019 interview, Maria attributed her longevity to “an orderly life that is socially very pleasant... a good life, without excesses”. Following Maria's death, the next oldest person according to the Gerontology Research Group is Japan's Tomiko Itooka, who is currently 116 years old.