Maria Branyas, the world's oldest living person, died at the age of 117 in Spain on Monday. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, she was the eighth-oldest person (with a verifiable age) in history. The woman, who embraced optimism and steered clear negativity, believed these traits helped her live a long life.
Maria Branyas's 10 secrets to longevity
The US-born woman had credited her longevity to various factors such as following an order and optimism.
“Order, tranquility, good connection with family and friends, contact with nature, emotional stability, no worries, no regrets, lots of positivity, and staying away from toxic people," she was quoted as saying by Guinness.
“I think longevity is also about being lucky. Luck and good genetics.”
Branyas spent the last two decades of her life in a nursing home in Catalonia, northeastern Spain, where died in her sleep.
"Maria Branyas has left us. She has died as she wanted: in her sleep, peacefully and without pain," her official X account said, and a spokesperson at the nursing home confirmed the news without providing details.
{{/usCountry}}"Maria Branyas has left us. She has died as she wanted: in her sleep, peacefully and without pain," her official X account said, and a spokesperson at the nursing home confirmed the news without providing details.
{{/usCountry}}Branyas, a mother of three, had suggested that her death was imminent on Monday on X, saying: "I feel weak. The time is coming. Don't cry, I don't like tears... You know me, wherever I go, I will be happy."
Her X account is handled by her daughter.
Front row seat to history
Having lived for over a century, Maria Branyas got a front row seat to historical events such as two world wars, the Spanish flu and something as recent as the coronavirus pandemic. In 2020, Branyas, who was 113 then, beat the coronavirus infection after testing positive for the virus at the retirement home where several other residents died from the disease. She fought COVID-19 while in isolation.
Branyas moved to Spain with her family on a boat during World War I and also lived through the Spanish flu pandemic that swept the world in 1918-19 as well as Spain’s 1936-39 civil war.
(Also Read: Woman, 83, becomes Howard University’s oldest graduate: ‘If I can do it, why not you?’)