World's oldest person, French nun Sister Andre, dies aged 118

The world's oldest surviving person, French nun Lucile Randon, has died aged 118.

Ms Randon - who assumed the sanction Sister Andre erstwhile she took beatified orders successful 1944 - died successful her slumber astatine her nursing location successful Toulon, France.

Born successful 1904 successful confederate France, she lived done 2 satellite wars and dedicated overmuch of her beingness to Catholicism.

"Only the bully Lord knows" the concealed of her longevity, she told reporters.

Born erstwhile Tour de France has lone been staged once, Sister André besides saw 27 French heads of state.

A spokesperson from her nursing home, David Tavella, shared quality of her decease with reporters connected Tuesday.

"There is large sadness but... it was her tendency to articulation her beloved brother. For her, it's a liberation," Mr Tavella said.

Sister Andre was said to person a adjacent narration with her brothers. She erstwhile told reporters 1 of her fondest memories was their harmless instrumentality from warring astatine the extremity of World War One.

"It was rare," she recalled. "In families determination were usually 2 dormant alternatively than 2 alive".

Despite being unsighted and reliant connected a wheelchair, Sister André cared for different aged radical - immoderate of whom were overmuch younger than herself.

In an interrogation past April with the AFP quality agency, Sister André said: "People accidental that enactment kills, for maine enactment kept maine alive, I kept moving until I was 108."

During the aforesaid interview, she said she would beryllium amended disconnected successful heaven, but continued to bask earthly pleasures similar eating cocoa and drinking a solid of vino everyday.

She had been Europe's eldest for immoderate time, but she entered the Guinness Book of Records past April arsenic the world's oldest idiosyncratic following the decease of Kane Tanaka, a Japanese pistillate who lived until she was 119-years-old.

It wasn't her archetypal clip successful the grounds books. In 2021 helium became the oldest idiosyncratic to retrieve from Covid-19.

Sister André was calved into a Protestant family, but aboriginal converted to Catholicism, earlier being baptised erstwhile she was 26 years old.

Driven by her tendency to "go further", she joined an bid of nuns known arsenic the Daughters of Charity astir 15 years aft her determination to articulation the Catholic Church.

She was assigned to a infirmary successful Vichy, wherever she spent astir of her moving life, astir 31 years.

In 1 of her past interviews, she told reporters: "People should assistance each different and emotion each different alternatively of hating. If we shared each that, things would beryllium a batch better,".