Face of the Day

Maria Branyas, an American-born Spaniard considered the world’s oldest person at 117 years old, has died, her family said.

In a post on Branyas’ X account, her family wrote in Catalan on Tuesday: “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 validates details of people thought to be 110 or older, listed Branyas as the oldest known person in the world after the death of French nun Lucile Randon last year.

The next oldest person listed by the Gerontology Research Group is now Japan’s Tomiko Itooka, who is 116 years old.

Branyas was born in San Francisco on March 4, 1907. After living for some years in New Orleans, where her father founded a magazine, her family returned to Spain when she was young.

Branyas said that she had memories of crossing the Atlantic Ocean during World War I.

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