22 august 2024 :Maria Branyas, recognized as the oldest living individual globally, passed away at the age of 117 in Spain on Monday. As noted by the Guinness Book of World Records, she held the distinction of being the eighth-oldest person in history with a verifiable age. Branyas, who embodied a spirit of optimism and avoided negativity, attributed her longevity to these characteristics.
Maria Branyas’s ten principles for a long life
Born in the United States, Branyas attributed her extended lifespan to several factors, including maintaining order and a positive outlook.
“Order, tranquility, strong connections with family and friends, engagement with nature, emotional stability, absence of worries and regrets, abundant positivity, and distancing from toxic individuals,” she stated, as reported by Guinness.
“I believe that longevity also involves an element of luck. Luck and favorable genetics play a role.”
For the last twenty years of her life, Branyas resided in a nursing home in Catalonia, northeastern Spain, where she peacefully passed away in her sleep.
“Maria Branyas has departed from us. She left as she wished: peacefully and without pain, in her sleep,” her official account on X announced, with a representative from the nursing home confirming the news without further details.
A mother of three, Branyas hinted at her impending death on Monday via X, expressing: “I feel weak. The time is approaching. Do not cry; I dislike tears… You know me, wherever I go, I will find happiness.”
Her X account is managed by her daughter.
Witness to history
Having lived for over a century, Maria Branyas experienced significant historical events, including two world wars, the Spanish flu, and the recent coronavirus pandemic. In 2020, at the age of 113, she successfully overcame a COVID-19 infection after testing positive while residing in a retirement home, where several other residents succumbed to the virus. She battled the illness while in isolation.
Branyas and her family relocated to Spain by boat during World War I and endured the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1919, as well as Spain’s civil war from 1936 to 1939.