Laurence Dollimore
THE oldest woman in the world has died at 117.
The family of Maria Branyas announced her death via social media on Tuesday.
In a post on her X account they wrote: “Maria Branyas has left us. She has gone the way she wanted: in her sleep, at peace, and without pain.”
Maria became the oldest woman in the world last year following the death of a French nun Lucile Randon.
The family’s full statement reads: “Maria Branyas has left us. She has died as she wanted: in her sleep, peacefully and without pain.
“A few days ago he told us: ‘One day I will leave here. I will not try coffee again, nor eat yogurt…, 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.
“‘Death will find me worn out from having lived so long, but I want it to find me smiling, free and satisfied’.”
The family added: “We will always remember her for her advice and kindness.”
Maria was born to Spanish parents in San Francisco on March 4, 1907, but moved back to northern Spain when she was very young.
Scientists last year took samples from Maria in a bid to discover her secrets to a long life – and to develop cures for diseases.
She incredibly had no health complications other than hearing and mobility issues.
The ‘Super Grandmother’, who regularly updated her followers on X, beat Covid in 2020 and had survived the Spanish Civil War, a deadly earthquake in the US and a major fire.
She previously advised anyone hoping to live a long life to cut out ‘toxic people’ and avoid ‘excess’.
Unlike most people her age, she had zero cardiovascular problems nor memory issues, and could recount stories from the age of four as if they happened yesterday.
‘She’s incredible,’ Manel Esteller, director of the Josep Carreras leukaemia research institute and a professor of genetics at the University of Barcelona, previously said.
Manel took DNA samples (saliva, urine and blood) from Maria, whom he visited at her care home in Olot, Gerona, in northern Spain.
He told Spanish newspaper ABC at the time: “She has a completely lucid head. She remembers with impressive clarity episodes of her when she was only four years old, and she does not present any cardiovascular disease, common in elderly people. The only thing she has are mobility and hearing problems.”
Manel, a world leader in genetics, wanted to discover how far Maria’s genes could explain her longevity, and how much it was to do with her lifestyle.
Maria, the daughter of a journalist from Pamplona, was born in San Francisco (United States) on March 4, 1907, but returned to Spain as a child.
She lived in different areas of the Catalunya region and had three children.
Maria had previously credited eating natural yoghurt each day for her longevity, and avoiding ‘excesses’, adding: “I have always eaten little, but everything, and I have never followed any regime. I have not suffered from any illness or been through an operating room.”
Asked about her secret to a long life, she previously tweeted: “Order, tranquility, good connection with family and friends, contact with nature, emotional stability, lots of positivity and away from toxic people.”
However she admitted that she also believed it was down to genes and ‘luck’, which expert Manel agreed with.
He explained: “It is clear that there is a genetic component because there are several members of her family who are over 90 years old.”
To what extent her genes could have shielded her from age-related deterioration is what his team will try to discover in the laboratory.
He added last year: “What is clear is that she is a person with an extraordinary capacity for resilience… She is a true survivor.”
The study will analyse six billion segments of her DNA, focusing on 200 genes that are directly related to ageing.
The results will be compared, according to Manel, with those obtained from her middle daughter, who is 79 years old – she had another who is 90 and a son who died in an accident when he was 77.
The goal of the research is to help develop drugs capable of combating diseases typically caused by old age.
“We hope the study of Maria’s cells will give us new clues about how to address neurodegenerative or cardiovascular diseases associated with age, and cancer,” said Manel.
