World’s oldest person dead: Maria Branyas Morera was 117

The Guinness World Record holder passed away hours after heartbreaking post from her family. The world’s oldest known person, supercentenarian Maria Branyas Morera, has died this week at the age of 117. Morera’s family, who ran her social media accounts, shared a heartbreaking final update on her behalf on Monday.

“I feel weak. The time is coming. Don’t cry, I don’t like tears.

And above all don’t suffer for me. You know me, wherever I go I will be happy, because somehow I will always take you with me,” reads a translation of the post on X. Morera was born March 4, 1907, in San Francisco, California, to a family who had recently moved from Mexico but originally came from Spain.

She lived through two pandemics, the Spanish Civil War, both World Wars, and in January 2023 achieved a Guinness World Record as the world’s oldest person following the death of French nun Lucile Randon at age 118..