French nun now the oldest person in the world after Japanese woman, 119, dies

Sister André, also known as Lucile Randon, was born in February 1904 making her 118 years old and the oldest verified living person in the world after the death of Kane Tanaka last week

A 118-year-old French nun is now the oldest verified living person in the world following the death of Kane Tanaka.

Known as Sister André, also known as Lucile Randon, was born on February 11, 1904.

She has lived through two world wars, 18 French presidents, the rise and fall of the Vichy regime and 24
British Prime Ministers.

Previous record holder Mrs Tanaka passed away aged 119 in western Japan on April 19.

Sister André made it to her 118th birthday despite catching Covid-19 during an outbreak at her nursing home in 2021 when she was forced to isolate.

Making light of her old age, she joked: “I’m thinking of withdrawing from this affair [of life], but ‘they’ don’t want me to,” as if God had forgotten to call for her.

She told French broadcaster BFM that she was not scared of Covid and “wasn’t scared to die.”

“I’m happy to be with you, but I would wish to be somewhere else to join my big brother, and my grandfather and my grandmother,” she said.

David Tavella, a spokesperson for the nursing home, said Sister André has been very lucky and showed no fear of the disease.

“On the other hand, she was very concerned about the other residents,” he added.

Sister André, who is blind and uses a wheelchair, was already the oldest person in Europe.

Now she is the oldest validated living supercentenarian, a person over the age of 110, in the world.

This follows the death of Mrs Tanaka who was reportedly partial to fizzy drinks and chocolate and still studied maths and played the board game Othello.

She died of old age in a hospital in Fukuoka city after being confirmed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living person in 2019.

Mrs Tanaka was born on January 2, 1903 – the year of the Wright Brothers’ first controlled flight of their motor-driven aeroplane.

She was due to take part in the Tokyo Olympics torch relay but was unable to because of the pandemic.

The record for the oldest person to have ever lived was held by a French woman, Jeanne Louise Calment, who was 122 years and 164 days old when she died in 1997.

In a press release, Guinness World Records said: “The titles of oldest person living and oldest person living (female) are currently being investigated. Further information will be announced upon confirmation of the next record holder.”

But according to the Gerontology Research Group, run by a team of experienced researchers, Sister André is now the oldest living person.

Japan has a dwindling and rapidly ageing population.

As of last September, the country had 86,510 centenarians, and nine out of every 10 were women.

France also has an ageing population with 21 per cent of the population aged 65 years and above in 2021.

This increased from 13.2 per cent in 1972 and is growing at an average annual rate of 0.97 per cent.