MADRID — Maria Branyas, an American-born Spaniard considered the world’s oldest person at 117 years old, has died, her family said Tuesday.

In a post on Branyas’ X account, her family wrote in Catalan: “Maria Branyas has left us. She has gone the way she wanted: in her sleep, at peace, and without pain.”

La Maria Branyas ens ha deixat. Ha mort com ella volia: mentre dormia, tranquil·la i sense dolor.
Fa uns dies ens deia:
“Un dia me n’aniré d’aquí. No tornaré a provar cafè, ni a menjar iogurt, ni a acaronar a la Fada…, deixaré també els meus records, les meves reflexions… ?

— Super Àvia Catalana (@MariaBranyas112) August 20, 2024

The Gerontology Research Group, which validates details of people thought to be 110 or older, listed Branyas as the oldest known person in the world after the death of French nun Lucile Randon last year.

The next-oldest person listed by the Gerontology Research Group is Japan’s Tomiko Itooka, who is 116 years old.

Branyas was born in San Francisco on March 4, 1907. After living for some years in New Orleans, where her father founded a magazine, her family returned to Spain when she was young. Branyas said she had memories of crossing the Atlantic Ocean during World War I.

Her X account is called “Super Catalan Grandma” and bears the description: “I am old, very old, but not an idiot.”

Moltes gràcies per les felicitacions. El meu agraïment, de cor, a totes les persones que ahir em vareu manifestar el vostre afecte, respecte i boniques paraules.
“Només amb un somriure que em facis tot passant, ja m’omplo d’alegria i veig el món més gran” (Joana Raspall) pic.twitter.com/upzeZhyeCi

— Super Àvia Catalana (@MariaBranyas112) March 5, 2024

At age 113, Branyas tested positive for COVID-19 during the global pandemic but avoided developing severe symptoms that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of older Spaniards.

At the time of her death, she was living in a nursing home in the Catalan town of Olot, about 60 miles north of Barcelona.

Her family wrote that Branyas told them days before her death: “I don’t know when, but very soon, this long journey will come to an end. Death will find me worn down from having lived so much, but I want to meet it with a smile, feeling free and satisfied.”