Sister André, a French nun, was the oldest known person in the world. She died at the age of 118, her spokesman said AFP on Tuesday.
David Tavella of Sainte-Catherine Laboure Nursing Home said Sister André, whose real name was Lucile Randon, died in her sleep in Toulon, France.
“There is great sadness, but… it was her desire to join her beloved brother,” Tavella told AFP. “It’s a liberation for her.” Sister André, born on February 11, 1904was considered the oldest living person in the world.
Guinness World Records confirmed this in April 2022, after Kane Tanaka from Japan, who was 119 years old, died. The news was also shared by the record-keeping group, which said it was “saddened” by the nun’s death.
118-year-old Catholic nun Sister Andre is now the world’s oldest living person in the world. Sister Andre, who has already seen 10 popes in her life, has converted to Catholicism. pic.twitter.com/P0UVrGjmBj
— Father V (@father_rmv) November 7, 2022
“How incredible that we shared the same sky as someone who was born just a few months after the Wright brothers’ first powered flight — and a few months before the New York subway system opened,” Guinness World Records editor-in-chief Craig Glenday said in a statement.
Sister André, according to Glenday, was the “fourth oldest person ever verified by Guinness.” Sister André was the oldest living nun and the oldest survivor of COVID-19, according to Guinness.
She was also the second oldest person from France and the second oldest person from Europe. She was just three years away from beating France’s Jeanne Louise Calment, who turned 122 and holds the record as the oldest person ever.
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In a statement, Hubert Franco, the mayor of Toulon, also said that Sister André had died. He told how often he went to see her.
Franco said Toulon had made Sister André an honorary citizen four years ago and that she had lived at the Sainte-Catherine Laboure nursing home since 2009. Guinness said Sister André worked with orphans and the elderly for nearly 30 years before becoming a religious leader.
She also lived through the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. Sister André has lived through 18 presidents of France and 10 popes… Just follow us on Lee Daily for more news like this.
