World’s Oldest Person, French Nun Sister André Dies at 118 | Born “Few Months Before New York Subway System Opened”

The world's oldest person, French nun Sister André, died on January 17, aged 118. She was born Lucile Randon on February 11, 1904, and died at her retirement home in France. "There is great sadness, but … it was her desire to join her beloved brother," David Tavella, spokesman for the Sainte-Catherine-Laboure nursing home in Toulon, told ABC News. "For her, it's a liberation", Tavella said. She added that Sister André died in her sleep, per PEOPLE.

As per CNN, Toulon's mayor, Hubert Falco, announced the news of her death on Twitter, writing that “it is with immense sadness and emotion that I learned tonight of the passing of the world’s oldest person #SisterAndré.” On her 118th birthday in 2022, the nun received a handwritten birthday note from French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron is the 18th president she had seen in her lifetime. There have also been 10 different Popes presiding over the Catholic Church since she was born.

She assumed the title of the world's oldest person in April 2022, after the death of Japanese resident Kane Tanaka at age 119. Guinness World Records had named Sister André the oldest living nun, the second-oldest French person, and the second-oldest European person on record. During her life, Sister André had been a teacher, governess, and caretaker to children during World War II. After the war, she worked with older adults and orphans for over three decades.

Sister André also worked at Vichy, an Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes-area hospital, for nearly three decades before becoming a Catholic nun, per Guinness World Records. She lived through World War II and also survived the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918 and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic, despite testing positive for the virus on January 16, 2021. Sister André was the oldest living survivor of COVID-19, as per Guinness World Records. When asked about surviving COVID-19, she said, “No, I wasn’t scared because I wasn’t scared to die… I’m happy to be with you, but I would wish to be somewhere else – join my big brother and my grandfather and my grandmother,” to France’s BFM Television, reported New York Post.

"They get me up at 7 a.m., they give me my breakfast, then they put me at my desk where I stay busy with little things," Sister André had told Guinness World Records about her daily routine at her retirement home. Her final days were spent eating chocolates and sweets and drinking wine. "Her glass of wine maintains her and which is perhaps her longevity secret," a staff member from the retirement home had told last year. "I don't know — I don't encourage people to drink a glass of wine every day!"

"How incredible that we shared the same air as someone who was born just a couple of months after the Wright Brothers' first powered flight - and a few months before the New York subway system opened," said Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief for Guinness World Records, in a statement. Glenday added that Sister André was the "fourth oldest person ever authenticated" by Guinness, reported CBS News.

References:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-18/the-worlds-oldest-known-person-dies-at-118/101866102

https://people.com/human-interest/sister-andre-worlds-oldest-person-dead-in-france-at-age-118/

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/17/europe/france-oldest-person-world-dies-intl/index.html

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2022/4/worlds-oldest-person-confirmed-as-118-year-old-sister-andre-699611

https://nypost.com/2023/01/17/sister-andre-the-worlds-oldest-living-person-dies-at-118/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sister-andre-worlds-oldest-known-person-dies-at-118/

Cover Image Source: YouTube | Inside Edition