Maria Branyas

Maria Branyas Morera (Catalan pronunciation: [məˈɾiə ˈβɾaɲəs]; born 4 March 1907) is an American-born Spanish supercentenarian who, at the age of 116 years, 235 days, has been the world's oldest verified living person since the death of Lucile Randon on 17 January 2023.[1]

In this Catalan name, the first or paternal surname is Branyas and the second or maternal family name is Morera; both are generally joined by the conjunction "i".
Maria Branyas
María Branyas Morera as a child with her family in 1911
Branyas (third from left) with her family in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1911
Born
Maria Branyas

(1907-03-04)4 March 1907
(age 116 years, 235 days)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
NationalitySpanish, American
Known for
Spouse
Joan Moret
​
​
(m. 1931; died 1976)​
Children3 (1 deceased)

Personal life

Branyas was born on 4 March 1907 in San Francisco, United States, to an expatriate Spanish family (of Catalan origin) that had moved there in 1906.[2][3] She and her family later moved to Texas, then subsequently to New Orleans.[3][4] While in New Orleans her father Josep worked as a journalist, and founded the Spanish-language magazine Mercurio.[4] The family decided to return to Catalonia in 1915 due to major events that impacted Branyas's father.[3][4] He was both struggling financially, declared bankruptcy, and his doctor recommended a move amid his declining health.[3][4] Due to the German naval presence in the Atlantic Ocean during the First World War, their boat had to travel via Cuba and the Azores to ensure safe passage.[2] On the voyage, Branyas lost the ability to hear in one ear after falling from the upper deck to the lower deck while playing with her brothers.[5] Branyas's father also died of tuberculosis on the voyage, and her mother later remarried.[3][6] The family settled first in Barcelona and subsequently moved northeast to the city of Banyoles.[6]

In July 1931, Branyas married a traumatologist named Joan Moret with whom she had three children.[7][8][9] During the Spanish Civil War, Branyas was employed as a nurse working by her husband's side at a Nationalist field hospital in Trujillo, Extremadura.[3][6] While later living in Girona, Moret became the regional leader of the healthcare organisation Obra Sindical 18 de Julio.[3] He was also the director of the Josep Trueta Hospital in Girona from 1972 to 1974.[3][10] Branyas worked as a nurse, and her husband's assistant until his death in 1976.[4][11]

In the 1990s, Branyas travelled to Egypt, Italy, the Netherlands, and England, and took up sewing, music and reading.[3] In 2000, at the age of 93, she moved to a nursing home in Olot, Catalonia, after contracting pneumonia.[3][12] Branyas was described as an active resident there, continuing to perform exercises until her mobility deteriorated.[6] Branyas played the piano until she was 108, and now uses a voice-to-text platform to communicate due to hearing loss.[13][14][15] She has 11 grandchildren, and she outlived her eldest son, August, who died in a tractor accident at the age of 86.[3][16]

Health and longevity

Branyas became a centenarian in 2007, and a supercentenarian by 2017, which is achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians.[17] In March 2020, Branyas became the then-oldest[lower-alpha 1] person to recover from COVID-19.[18] In an interview with The Observer, she called for better treatment of the elderly: "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".[19]

In July 2020, a research study into the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on elderly care home residents was conducted by the Spanish National Research Council and Dalt Pharmacy. The study was called Proyecto Branyas ('Project Branyas') in her honour.[3][20]

Branyas officially became the oldest living person in the world on 17 January 2023, after the death of Lucile Randon of France.[1] She also became the oldest person ever to have resided in Spain on 21 April 2023 after surpassing Ana María Vela Rubio, and the oldest emigrant ever on 14 May 2023 after surpassing Tekla Juniewicz.

See also

Notes
  1. Branyas remained the oldest person to recover from COVID-19 until January 2021, when Lucile Randon, who was three years Branyas' senior, tested positive days before her 117th birthday.

References
  1. "World's oldest person, French nun Sister Andre, dies aged 118". The Irish Times. 17 January 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  2. Jordan, Guifré (17 January 2023). "Catalonia's Maria Branyas becomes oldest living person on Earth at 115". Catalan News.
  3. Simón, Pedro (23 July 2020). "Maria, la Española de 111 años que derrotó al coronavirus" (PDF). El Mundo (in Spanish). pp. 37–8. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  4. Dusster, David (13 October 2019). "María Branyas, la abuela de Catalunya: "No he hecho nada más que vivir"". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  5. Branyas, Maria (18 December 2020). "Tweet by Super Àvia Catalana". Twitter (in Catalan). Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  6. Costa-Pau, Aniol (18 January 2023). "La 'superàvia catalana' ja és la persona més vella del món". Ara (in Catalan). Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  7. Branyas, Maria (21 March 2022). "Tweet by Super Àvia Catalana". Twitter (in Catalan). Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  8. Branyas, Maria (21 March 2022). "Tweet by Super Àvia Catalana". Twitter (in Catalan). Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  9. Branyas, Maria (21 March 2022). "Tweet by Super Àvia Catalana". Twitter (in Catalan). Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  10. Roig García, Josep; Merino Palomar, Purificación; Baró Seguí, Joan (2006). De la Residència a hospital d'alt nivell: 50 anys de l'Hospital Dr. Josep Trueta de Girona (1956-2006) (PDF) (in Catalan) (1st ed.). Girona: Generalitat de Catalunya: Department of Health. pp. 160–161. ISBN 978-8439370482.
  11. "La història de la Maria Branyas, la persona més vella del món". www.naciodigital.cat (in Catalan). 18 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  12. Jordan, Guifré (19 August 2019). "Meet Catalonia's oldest person, a 112-year-old". Catalan News.
  13. Georgiou, Aristos (18 January 2023). "World's oldest person Maria Branyas did this until she was 108 years old". Newsweek.
  14. "Décès de sœur André: Maria Branyas Morera, 115 ans, serait la nouvelle doyenne de l'humanité". Sudouest (in French). 18 January 2023. ISSN 1760-6454. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  15. "World's oldest living person confirmed as US-born Spanish woman". Guinness World Records. 19 January 2023.
  16. García, Andrea (23 July 2020). "Tot un exemple: Maria, la catalana que ha superat el coronavirus amb 113 anys". Catalunya Diari (in Catalan). Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  17. Maier, H.; Gampe, J.; Jeune, B.; Robine, J.-M.; Vaupel, J. W., eds. (25 May 2010). Supercentenarians. Demographic Research Monographs. Springer. p. 338. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-11520-2. ISBN 978-3-642-11519-6.
  18. "Catalonia's senior-most citizen survives Covid-19 at age 113". Catalan News. 11 May 2020.
  19. Kassam, Ashifa (16 May 2020). "113-year-old coronavirus survivor: 'The elderly are the forgotten ones of society'". The Observer. ISSN 1756-3224. Archived from the original on 17 May 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  20. "Maria Branyas". Branyas Project. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
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