Maria Branyas Morera, the World’s Oldest Person, celebrates her 116th birthday

Maria Branyas Morera has turned 116 in her residence in Olot, Catalonia, Spain. Branyas became the world’s oldest person in January following the death of French nun Lucile Randon at 118. She automatically inherited the title according to a calculation that has been compiled for over 20 years by the Gerontological Research Group of Guinness World Records. She was born on March 4, 1907 in San Francisco, California. She survived the First and Second World Wars and the Spanish Civil War. She came to Catalonia as a child. She lived in Barcelona, Banyoles, Girona, Calonge, and Sant Antoni i Palol de Revardit. In 1931, she married Joan Moret, a doctor from Llagostera in Gironès.

For about 20 years, Branyas has lived in the Santa Maria del Tura Residence in Olot. There, in May 2020, she broke another record: at the age of 113, she became the oldest person in the world to survive Covid-19 infection. Her age was officially validated by the Gerontology Research Group on June 28, 2021.

According to the research by the Gerontology Research Group, Maria Branyas Morera is the 26th person in modern history to eclipse the lifespan of 116 years, and the ninth to do so in Europe.