Longevity Warrior Sister Andre, the French nun believed to be the oldest person in the world died in her sleep on January 17, 2023, at the age of 118, according to David Tavella, spokesperson for the house of care Sainte Catherine Laboure in the port city of Toulon in southern France.
“There is great sadness but…it was her desire to join her beloved brother. For her, it’s a release,” Tavella said.
Born Lucile Randon, Sister André was born in the town of Alès, in the south of France, on February 11, 1904. The Supercentenaire lived through two world wars, the Vichy regime, the Great Depression, the Roaring Twenties of the 1920s , the Declaration of the Fifth Republic, the May 68 riots, the Spanish flu, the Cold War, the armistice, the dawn of the internet, 10 popes, 18 different French presidents, and more recently it has made headlines. newspapers when she survived COVID-19 with minimal symptoms.
When asked if she was afraid of having Covid, the nun told French television BFM: “No, I was not afraid because I was not afraid of dying… I am happy to to be with you, but I would like to be somewhere else – join my big brother, my grandfather and my grandmother.
“She didn’t ask me questions about her health but about her routine. She wanted to know, for example, if mealtimes and bedtimes were going to change. She showed no fear of the disease, in fact, she was more worried about the other residents,” Tavella said.
Asked about her exceptional longevity and resilience throughout her impressive life, Sister André told French media that “work…makes you live. I worked until I was 108.
She first encountered electricity as a child in school when she turned on a light. Electricity was a new word for her to learn, which she said was “a joy”. Sister André worked as a governess and tutor before entering the convent in 1944 at the age of 40.
In 2020, Sister André told French radio that she did not know how she had lived so long. “I have no idea of the secret. Only God can answer that question,” she said. “I had a lot of misfortunes in life and during the 1914-1918 war when I was a child, I suffered like everyone else.”
She was known to enjoy a glass of wine, port or champagne every day with chocolate, in fact, that’s how she toasted her 117th level in 2021. However, recently Sister André’s health s unfortunately deteriorated, she became disabled with old infirmities with poor hearing, loss of sight and her face was twisted with joint pain.
In a press release, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte hailed “this altruistic personality that the French considered a reference, a source of pride and attachment”.
Sister André is not the only French SuperAger, Jeanne Calment was another Frenchwoman who also lived in the south of France with an exceptional lifespan, who died at the age of 122 in 1997, at the time Calment held the record for longevity.
After Japan’s Kane Tanaka died at the age of 119 last year, Gerontology Research Group ranked Sister André as the oldest known person in the world. Now, with the passing of Sister André, according to validated details from the group, the oldest known person in the world is Maria Branyas Morera, born in the United States, who has had 115 higher levels and lives in Spain.
Supercentenarian status (aged 110+) is achieved by approximately 1 in 1,000 centenarians (aged 100-109). Supercentenarians typically live lives that are mostly free of major age-related illnesses until shortly before reaching their maximum human lifespan.
A Genomic study 2021 identified genetic characteristics that protect against age-related diseases, in particular variants that enhance DNA repair. Five variants were found to be significant, affecting the STK17A (increased expression) and COA1 (reduced expression) genes. Supercentenarians also had a surprisingly low level of somatic mutations.
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