On August 19, 2024, the world bid farewell to Maria Branyas Morera, the world’s oldest living person. At 117 years and 168 days old, Maria’s life was a remarkable testament to resilience, history, and the power of positive thinking. Her story, stretching across continents and centuries, offers a fascinating glimpse into the past and a legacy that continues to inspire.
Maria Branyas Morera was born on March 4, 1907, in San Francisco, California. She was the first child of Joseph Branyas Julià and Teresa Morera Laque, who had emigrated from Catalonia, Spain, just a year before her birth. Maria’s early life in America was marked by movement and change. The family lived in Texas and later in New Orleans, where Maria’s father worked as a journalist and founded a Spanish-language magazine, Mercurio.
In 1915, as World War I raged across Europe, the Branyas family made the difficult decision to return to Catalonia. Financial difficulties, coupled with Joseph’s declining health, necessitated the move.
The journey back to Europe was fraught with danger. To avoid the German naval presence in the Atlantic, their ship took a circuitous route via Cuba and the Azores. During the voyage, eight-year-old Maria suffered a fall from the upper to the lower deck while playing with her brothers, resulting in the permanent loss of hearing in one ear.
Tragically, her father succumbed to tuberculosis before they reached their destination.
The family eventually settled in Barcelona, later moving to Banyoles, a town in northeastern Catalonia. Despite the hardships of her early years, Maria thrived. At 24, she married Dr. Joan Moret, a traumatologist, with whom she had three children: August, Maria Teresa, and Maria Rosa.
Their life together was shaped by the turmoil of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), during which Maria worked alongside her husband as a nurse in a Nationalist field hospital in Trujillo, Extremadura. The couple’s dedication to their work during this challenging period demonstrated the strength and commitment that would define Maria’s long life.
After the war, Maria continued to work as her husband’s assistant until his death in 1976. Her eldest son, August, also predeceased her, dying at the age of 86 in a tragic tractor accident. Despite these losses, Maria remained resilient, finding solace in her family, which eventually grew to include 11 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren.
In the 1990s, even in her 80s, Maria’s zest for life remained undiminished. She traveled to Egypt, Italy, the Netherlands, and England, and took up hobbies such as sewing, music, and reading. At the age of 93, after a bout with pneumonia, she moved to a nursing home in Olot, Catalonia, where she would spend the final decades of her life.
Known as an active resident, she continued to exercise until her mobility declined and played the piano until she was 108. Despite being hard of hearing, Maria stayed connected with the world around her, using a voice-to-text platform to communicate.
Maria’s longevity became the subject of much interest and scientific research. She reached supercentenarian status in 2017, a milestone achieved by only one in a thousand centenarians. In March 2020, at the age of 113, she contracted COVID-19 during the pandemic but made a full recovery, becoming the oldest known survivor of the virus at the time. This remarkable recovery further cemented her status as a symbol of endurance and strength.
In January 2023, Maria was officially recognized as the world’s oldest living person following the death of Lucile Randon of France. She continued to set records, becoming the oldest person ever to reside in Spain and the oldest emigrant ever. Her life spanned two world wars, the Spanish Civil War, the Spanish Flu pandemic, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Maria attributed her extraordinary longevity to a combination of factors: “order, tranquility, good connection with family and friends, contact with nature, emotional stability, no worries, no regrets, lots of positivity, and staying away from toxic people.” She also believed that luck and good genetics played a role in her long life.
Maria’s passing marks the end of an era, but her legacy lives on through her family and the many lives she touched. As we reflect on her life, we are reminded of the resilience of the human spirit and the enduring impact of love, positivity, and connection.
With Maria’s passing, Tomiko Itooka now holds the title of the world’s oldest living person. However, the memory of Maria Branyas Morera—who lived through some of the most tumultuous events of the 20th and 21st centuries—will continue to inspire for generations to come.
