Maria Branyas Morera has lived through the horrors of two world wars, a civil war, and two global pandemics.
Maria Branyas Morera as a young woman.
The Guinness World Records (GWR) has recognized Morera as the oldest person in the world following the death of 118-year-old French nun, Sister André, earlier this month.
Morera has spent the last 22 years in a nursing home in Catalonia, Spain, but she was born nearly 116 years ago in San Francisco, USA, thousands of miles away.
She currently has three children, eleven grandchildren, and thirteen great-grandchildren.
Born on March 4, 1907, just under four years later, the Wright brothers made their first powered flight. Two years prior, the construction of the ill-fated Titanic began.
Despite approaching her 116th birthday in just a few weeks, Morera even uses Twitter—with a little help from her daughter—to connect with her thousands of followers.
Morera was born one year after her parents immigrated to the US. Eight years later, her family returned, but that journey was perilous.
Maria Branyas Morera.
According to GWR, Morera’s father died of tuberculosis at the end of their transatlantic journey. Meanwhile, she permanently lost hearing in one ear after a fall.
Her family arrived in Barcelona during World War I, and Morera also experienced the Spanish Civil War and World War II.
She is believed to be one of the oldest people to recover after contracting Covid-19 in May 2020.
In a series of tweets in Catalan on January 21, she expressed being “surprised and grateful” for the public’s interest when she was acknowledged by the record books as the oldest living person. However, in recent days, she has felt “stressed” and will not be giving any further interviews.
The title of the oldest person ever recorded belongs to Jeanne Louise Calment. Born on February 21, 1875, she lived for 122 years and 164 days, according to GWR.
