The world’s oldest known person Sister André, born Lucile Randon in 1904, has died at age 118 at a nursing home in Toulon, France, the New York Times reports. She died in her sleep on Tuesday, January 17. André’s death was confirmed by a spokesman for the nursing home where she was living.
The French nun notably lived through two world wars, the influenza pandemic in 1918, and made headlines in recent years for becoming the oldest known survivor of COVID-19. According to David Tavella, who worked at nursing home Ste. Catherine Labouré, “She kept telling me, ‘I’m not afraid of Covid because I’m not afraid of dying.’”
Sister André tested positive for COVID-19 in January 2021, but was asymptomatic and was clear of the novel coronavirus in time for her 117th birthday. She claimed the title of oldest living person last year, following the death of Japanese woman Kane Tanaka, who died ate age 119 in April 2022.
André grew up in the French town of Alés and was raised Protestant, although she later converted to Catholicism in her 20s. In an interview for her 118th birthday, which she celebrated in February last year, she said, “Since I came into this world, I have only seen wars and fights.”
André also holds the distinction of being France’s second longest living person ever, behind Jeanne Calment, who died at age 122 in 1997. Only three people in total, all women, have been verified to have lived longer than she did.
The oldest living person is now Spanish woman María Branyas Morera, who is just a few months shy of turning 116.
