Maria Branyas Morera, who was born in San Francisco the year after the 1906 earthquake devastated the city, has died in Spain at age 117. She was believed to be the oldest person in the world, a title she held for more than a year. After living in cities including New Orleans, her family, facing financial hardship, returned to Spain in 1915. She lived through Spain's civil war and the brutal regime that followed, and Manel Esteller, a professor of genetics at the University of Barcelona, believes hard times may have contributed to her longevity, the New York Times reports.
"It is thought that people that have survived struggle, they have an advantage," says Esteller. Last year, he told El Pais that Morera's cells appeared 10 years younger than their actual age, because "she was dealt a great hand and has played her cards very well for 117 years" by eating right, not smoking, and exercising. He said he asked her, "What do you expect from life?" and she replied, "Death." Morera, who moved to a nursing home when she was 93, is survived by two daughters, ages 91 and 82, and numerous grandchildren, the Times reports.
In a post on her X account—"Super Catalan Grandmother"—relatives said she died peacefully in her sleep on Monday. "A few days ago she told us: 'One day I will leave here. I will not try coffee again, nor eat yogurt, nor pet my dog,'" they wrote. "'I will also leave my memories, my reflections and I will cease to exist in this body. One day I don't know, but it's very close, this long journey will be over.'" The AP reports that according to the Gerontology Research Group, the world's oldest person is now Tomiko Itooka, a 116-year-old Japanese woman. (More oldest person stories.)
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