I'm old, very old, but not an idiot: World's oldest person; Spanish woman survived both world wars, pandemics

At the grand old age of 115 years 322 days, María Branyas Morera now holds the title of oldest person living following the recent death of Lucile Randon who was 118.

Hyderabad: World's oldest living person Maria Branyas Morera, who is born in the US now living in Spain, has survived both World Wars, the Spanish Civil War, and the Spanish Flu pandemic and the COVID-19 in 2020, according to Guinness World Records. She has now been confirmed to be the world's oldest woman living and oldest person living following the death of Lucile Randon who was 118.

“I am old, very old, but not an idiot,” reads the Twitter bio of Maria who was born in San Francisco, California, on 4 March 1907, one year after her parents emigrated to the United States. Eight years later, they decided to return to Spain, where they settled in Catalonia. As of Jan 20. 2023, Morera is 115 years 322 days old.

At present, Maria has been a resident of Residència Santa María del Tura – a nursing home, which is her home for the past 22 years. She is in good health and continues to be surprised and grateful for the attention that this anniversary has generated," Guinness World Records said quoting the facility as saying on Thursday.

The home will also be celebrating Maria's rise to become the world's oldest living person. "To celebrate this very special event we will have a small celebration behind closed doors in the residence in the coming days," the home said.

Maria who joined Twitter in 2019 and has been sharing her pearls of wisdom with the help of her daughter. The world's oldest living person attributes her longevity to “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." "I think longevity is also about being lucky. Luck and good genetics," Maria said.

Life of Maria Branyas Morera

According to Guinness World Records, María’s father did not survive the treacherous transatlantic voyage from America to Spain; he succumbed to pulmonary tuberculosis towards the end of the journey. María was also injured aboard the ship after falling whilst playing with her brothers, resulting in the permanent loss of hearing in one ear. The young family arrived in Barcelona in 1915, during the First World War.

María has three children, 11 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren. Her husband was a Catalan doctor named Joan Moret, whom she married in 1931. Their wedding day proved to be an eventful one, as after “hours of waiting for the priest,” the couple was informed that he had unexpectedly died.

"There was no phone. A car had to go down to Girona to look for an available chaplain," María wrote in Twitter. "At that time, in the entire province of Girona there must have been around 50 cars." María has witnessed a remarkable number of technological advances since then. She now has a voice-to-text device which allows her family to easily communicate with her since she’s extremely hard of hearing.

Maria contracted the virus weeks after celebrating her 113th birthday in 2020 and she recovered within a few days. She held on to the title of the world’s oldest COVID-19 survivor until it was broken by Lucile Randon later.