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Maria Branyas Morera
Maria Branyas Morera
Branyas Morera on her 117th birthday in 2024
Birth: 4 March 1907
San Francisco, California, USA
Age: 117 years, 15 days
Country: United StatesUSASpainESP
Validated

Maria Branyas Morera (born 4 March 1907) is an American-Spanish supercentenarian who is recognized by Guinness World Records as being the oldest validated living person in the world since the death of 118-year-old Lucile Randon of France on 17 January 2023. She is among the oldest people known to have survived COVID-19, which she contracted at the age of 113 in April 2020. She also holds the record for being the oldest person ever to reside in Spain and for being the oldest emigrant ever recorded whose age has been validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG).

Biography

Early Life

Maria Branyas Morera was born in San Francisco, California, USA on 4 March 1907. Her family emigrated to San Francisco in 1906. They later traveled to New Orleans, from here they departed to Olot, Catalonia, Spain in 1915. While emigrating to Spain aboard the Catalania, Branyas Morera injured her eardrum in a fall, resulting in her permanently losing hearing in one ear. Towards the end of the voyage, Branyas Morera's father, Joseph Branyas Julia, died from pulmonary tuberculosis at the age of 37, leaving Branyas Morera's mother to raise the family of five on her own.

In 1931, Branyas Morera married her husband, Joan Moret. The couple had three children.

Later Life

In 2000, when she was 93, Branyas Morera moved into a care home in Olot, where she currently resides. At the age of 110, she reportedly still read the newspaper every day. As of August 2019, she had 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Branyas Morera is deaf in one ear, and partially deaf in the other, with precautions taken at her nursing home. This made communication difficult, but using a voice-to-text device, her relatives are able to communicate fluently.

In May 2023, Branyas Morera was visited by Robert Young, Director for GRG Supercentenarian Research and Database Department, Natalie Coles, the wife of Dr. L. Stephen Coles, founder of the GRG, and Dr. Manel Esteller.

COVID-19 Survival

In April 2020, at the age of 113, Branyas Morera tested positive for COVID-19, but successfully recovered. She was the oldest recorded survivor of the disease until Lucile Randon, then 116, of France recovered in 2021. In a subsequent interview with the Observer, Branyas Morera called for a revolution in treatment of the elderly, saying "This pandemic has revealed that older people are the forgotten ones of our society. They fought their whole lives, sacrificed time and their dreams for today's quality of life. They didn't deserve to leave the world in this way."

In January 2021, Branyas Morera received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, making her one of the oldest validated supercentenarians to get vaccinated.

Longevity Records

On 22 December 2019, Branyas Morera became the oldest known living person in Spain, following the death of Josefa Santos Gonzalez. She became the last known living person in Spain born in 1907, following the death of Virtudes Tomas Navarro on 20 April 2020.

She became the last known (validated) living person in Europe born in 1907, following the death of Marie-Louise Berthelot on 16 January 2021.

Aside from being the oldest living validated person in Spain, Branyas Morera is also the oldest person ever born in the U.S. state of California, as well as the oldest validated living emigrant in the world.

She became the last person living in Spain born in the 1900s decade, following the death of Saturnino de la Fuente Garcia on 18 January 2022.

She became the oldest validated living American-born person, following the death of Thelma Sutcliffe on 17 January 2022, as well as the the oldest validated living person born in the Americas, following the death of Antonia da Santa Cruz on 23 January 2022.

She became the third-oldest validated living person in the world, following the death of Kane Tanaka on 19 April 2022.

She became the last surviving validated emigrant born in 1907, following the death of Casilda Benegas on 28 June 2022.

She became the second-oldest validated living person in the world, as well as the oldest validated living emigrant in the world, following the death of Tekla Juniewicz on 19 August 2022.

She became the last surviving validated American-born person born in 1907, following the death of Bessie Hendricks on 3 January 2023.

She became the oldest validated living person in Europe and in the world, as well as the last known surviving European person born before 1909, following the death of Lucile Randon on 17 January 2023. In addition, she is currently the fourth-oldest validated European person ever.

On 21 April 2023, Branyas Morera surpassed Ana Vela-Rubio's final age of 116 years, 47 days to become the oldest validated person ever to have resided in Spain. Vela-Rubio still holds the record for being the oldest validated person ever born in Spain.

On 14 May 2023, Branyas Morera surpassed Tekla Juniewicz's final age of 116 years, 70 days to become the oldest validated emigrant ever.

She became the last surviving validated person born in 1907, following the death of Fusa Tatsumi on 12 December 2023.

She became the last surviving validated American-born person born before 1909, following the death of Edie Ceccarelli on 22 February 2024.

On 4 March 2024, Branyas Morera celebrated her 117th birthday, becoming only the 12th validated person to reach this age and the first person in history who lived in Spain to do so.

Gallery

External Links

References


World's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (VE)

Betsy BakerJennie HowellMarie CarstensonNancy RyanChristina Karnebeek-Backs • Marie Olsen • Mary Kelly • Elizabeth Kensley • William Fullingim • Hannah Smith • John Mosley Turner • Johanna Booysen • Marie Bernatkova • Ada Roe • Josefa Salas Mateo • Alice Stevenson • Elizabeth Watkins • Mito Umeta • Niwa Kawamoto • Sophia DeMuth • Marie-Virginie Duhem • Fannie Thomas • Augustine Tessier • Nellie Spencer • Emma WilsonAugusta Holtz • Mary McKinney • Anna Eliza Williams • Florence Knapp • Jeanne Calment • Marie-Louise Meilleur • Sarah Knauss • Eva Morris • Marie Bremont • Maud Farris-Luse • Grace Clawson • Adelina Domingues • Mae Harrington • Yukichi Chuganji • Mitoyo Kawate • Ramona Trinidad Iglesias-Jordan • Maria Capovilla • Elizabeth Bolden • Emiliano Mercado del Toro • Emma Tillman • Yone Minagawa • Edna Parker • Maria de Jesus • Gertrude Baines • Kama Chinen • Eugenie Blanchard • Maria Gomes Valentim • Besse Cooper • Dina Manfredini • Jiroemon Kimura • Misao Okawa • Gertrude Weaver • Jeralean Talley • Susannah Mushatt Jones • Emma Morano • Violet BrownNabi Tajima • Chiyo MiyakoKane TanakaLucile RandonMaria Branyas Morera


World's Oldest Living Woman Titleholders (VE)

Betsy BakerJennie HowellMarie CarstensonNancy RyanChristina Karnebeek-Backs • Marie Olsen • Mary Kelly • Elizabeth Kensley • Auguste Pahl • Hannah Smith • Yoshigiku Ito • Johanna Booysen • Marie Bernatkova • Ada Roe • Josefa Salas Mateo • Alice Stevenson • Elizabeth Watkins • Mito Umeta • Niwa Kawamoto • Sophia DeMuth • Marie-Virginie Duhem • Fannie Thomas • Augustine Tessier • Nellie Spencer • Emma Wilson • Augusta Holtz • Mary McKinney • Anna Eliza Williams • Florence Knapp • Jeanne Calment • Marie-Louise Meilleur • Sarah Knauss • Eva Morris • Marie Bremont • Maud Farris-Luse • Grace Clawson • Adelina Domingues • Mae Harrington • Mitoyo Kawate • Ramona Trinidad Iglesias-Jordan • Maria Capovilla • Elizabeth Bolden • Julie Winnefred Bertrand • Emma Tillman • Yone Minagawa • Edna Parker • Maria de Jesus • Gertrude Baines • Kama Chinen • Eugenie Blanchard • Maria Gomes Valentim • Besse Cooper • Dina Manfredini • Koto Okubo • Misao Okawa • Gertrude Weaver • Jeralean Talley • Susannah Mushatt Jones • Emma Morano • Violet Brown • Nabi Tajima • Chiyo MiyakoKane TanakaLucile RandonMaria Branyas Morera


Europe's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (VE)

Willem van Renterghem • Marie d'Evergroote • Lavina Hansdatter • Kirsti Skagen • Geert Adriaans Boomgaard • Margaret Ann Neve • Karen BrodbaekSophia Wijnberg • Agnete Olsdatter • Honor Coleman • Sophie Lacomte • Maria Vleminckx • Johanna Berns • Matthias Dodenhoff • Sarah Gardiner • Elisabeth Jensen • Britta Njeldsdatter • Frederick Stabbins • Jane Lister • Martha Truelove • Ann Sharp • Gertrud Kübbeler • Marie Delfairiere • Frances Smith • Katherine Plunket • Eliza Roff • Maria Montemurro • Ellen Palmer • Rachel MacArthur • Anne Marie SkauRachel Swain • Wilhelmine Olschewski • Mary Davey • Francesco Cubadda • Thomas Pope • John Francklow • Rebecca Lees • Sarah Fitt • Johanna Johansson • Elizabeth Sellwood • Petronella Braams • Matilda Coppins • Elizabeth Whitehead • Karl Glockner • Sarah Humphrey • Maria Johansson • Michelina Macchia • Caroline Beale • Josephine Marchal • Luise Rissmann • Christina Karnebeek-Backs • Marie Olsen • Willem Kostering • Ella Ille Rentel • Lovisa Svensson • Ellen Dart • Elizabeth Kensley • Auguste Pahl • Hannah Smith • Anna KrslencovaJohn Mosley Turner • Marie Bernatkova • Ada Roe • Josefa Salas Mateo • Alice Stevenson • Frederick Butterfield • Rose Heeley • Marie-Virginie Duhem • Josefa Llovet • Florence PannellAugustine Tessier • Jeanetta Thomas • Alice Brewster • Petronella Ribbens-Verstallen • Anna Eliza Williams • Jeanne Calment • Lucy Askew • Annie Jennings • Eva Morris • Marie Bremont • Amy Hulmes • Germaine Haye • Teresa Fumarola • Joan Riudavets-Moll • Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper • Virginia Dighero-Zolezzi • Camille Loiseau • Maria de Jesus • Manuela Fernandez-Fojaco • Lucia Lauria • Florrie Baldwin • Venere Pizzinato-Papo • Marcelle Narbonne • Marie-Therese Bardet • Maria Redaelli • Emma Morano • Ana Vela Rubio • Giuseppina Projetto • Maria Giuseppa Robucci • Lucile RandonMaria Branyas Morera


Spain's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (VE)

Josefa Salas Mateo • Policarpa Perez Exposito • Josefa Llovet Llovet • Ramona Agudin-Fernandez • Antonia Diaz Garcia • Soledad Munoz • Salustiano Alvarez • Isabel Guijarro • Telesfora de la Torre-Mendizabal • Paulina Garcia-Lozano • Maria Villar TrespalaciosAurelio Diaz • A. L. M. • Galo Leoz-Ortin • Maria Antonia Castro • Maria del Carmen Lopez • Gregorio Merino • Gabriela Izquierdo • F. M. M. • Antonio Urrea-Hernandez • Maria Esperanza Onieva • Joan Riudavets-Moll • Jorja Hernando • Victoriana Vazquez Barrero • Lucia Madaria-Vesga • Manuela Fernandez-Fojaco • Teresa Dosaigues • Andresa Guerrero-Ortiz • Felipa Gutierrez • Rosa Martinez • Francisco Fernandez • Francisca Garcia-Torres • Ana Vela-Rubio • Magdalena Oliver Gabarro • Josefa Santos Gonzalez • Maria Branyas Morera

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