Sister André, the world's oldest woman, dies at 118

French nun Sister André died on Tuesday, January 17, at the age of 118 at the Sainte-Catherine-Laboure nursing home in Toulon, on the Mediterranean coast of southern France.

Spokesman Davis Tavella, told AFP that Lucile Randon, known as Sister André, "passed away at 2 a.m." in her sleep. "There is great sadness but.... It was her wish to join her brother. For her it is a liberation," said Tavella who reported that the sister was born on February 11, 1904 in the southern French town of Alés.

Sister André was the longest-living woman in the world. The nun had replaced the previous Guinness Book of Records holder, Kane Tanaka from Japan, who died on April 25, 2022 at the age of 119. This title, Infobae explains, is not officially recognized by any organization, but the organization decided to grant the title to the nun because she was the oldest person whose marital status and date of birth could be verified.

The Argentine newspaper recalls that in the last years of her life, she was in a wheelchair and had gone blind, so she did not hide her desire to "die soon," but added with irony: "God does not listen to me, he must be deaf."

Sister André was born into a non-practicing Protestant family. For this reason, Diario Norte explains, she did not decide to become a nun until she was 41 years old. At that time, she decided to join the congregation of the Daughters of Charity and continued to work there: "People say that work kills, for me work kept me alive, because I worked until I was 108 years old," she said.

Maria Branyas, new longest-living person in the world

After the death of Sister André, U.S.-born Spaniard Maria Branyas, at 115 years old, is now the oldest person in the world. Infobae states that she is currently staying at the Santa María del Tura nursing home in Olot, Girona. She caught Covid-19 there in 2020, when she was 113 years old.

She also has her own Twitter profile, called Super Àvia Catalana (translated as Super Catalan Grandmother), which posted the update that she now holds the top spot. The account is managed by her family and serves as a place for her to post her personal thoughts.