World’s oldest known person, French nun Sister Andre, dies aged 118
THE world’s oldest known person, French nun Sister Andre, has died at age 118 in the southern French city of Toulon, the city’s mayor Hubert Falco said on Tuesday.
Born in the southern French town of Ales on February 11, 1904 as Lucile Randon, Sister Andr was listed as the oldest person alive by the Gerentology Research Group in April last year.
The Frenchwoman worked as a home teacher in her youth and did not enter a religious community until she was in her early 40s.
Most recently, Sister Andre was confined to a wheelchair, and for several years she could no longer see properly.
She is an honorary citizen of Toulon, where she lived in
a retirement home for several years. Falco praised her as “incredibly modern” and a “nun with a big heart.”
Guinness World Records said Lucile, who took the name of Sister Andre in 1944, was the second-oldest French person and the second-oldest European person ever recorded.
More recently, Sister Andre received the record for the oldest C OID-19 survivor after an infection in 2021.
“It’s difficult to fathom that someone born before the patenting of plastic, zips or even bras was alive well into the 21st century, and robust enough to beat CO ID-19,” Guinness World Records editor Craig Glenday said in a statement.
“It’s been an honour to record her story in the pages of the Guinness World Records book, and she will live on in history as the fourth oldest person ever authenticated.”
With her death, Maria Branyas Morera, who lives in Spain, assumes the title of the world’s oldest person at age 115.