A French nun believed to be the world's oldest person has died a few weeks short of her 119th birthday, the spokesman for her nursing home in southern France said on Wednesday.
Lucile Randon, known as Sister André, was born in the southern French town of Ales on February 11, 1904. She was also one of the oldest survivors of COVID-19 in the world.
Spokesman David Tavella said she died at 2 am Tuesday at the Sainte-Catherine-Laboure nursing home in the city of Toulon.
The Gerontology Research Group, which validates details of people believed to be 110 years or older, listed her as the oldest known person in the world after the death of Japanese Kane Tanaka, aged 119, the year past.
Sister André tested positive for coronavirus in January 2021, shortly before her 117th birthday, but she had so few symptoms that she didn't even realize she was infected. Her survival made headlines both in France and beyond.
In April last year, when asked about his exceptional longevity during two world wars, he told the French media that “working… makes you live. I worked until I was 108 years old.”
She was known to enjoy a daily glass of wine and chocolate.
The oldest known living person in the world listed by the Gerontology Research Group is now 115-year-old MarĂa Branyas Morera, born in the United States, living in Spain.
