World's Oldest Person, French Nun Lucille Randon, Dies At 118

A French nun died at the age of 118 in France as the world's oldest person. Lucile Randon was born in southern France on February 11, 1904

Lucile Randon

Source : AFP

New Delhi: The world's oldest person, French nun Lucile Randon or known as Sister Andre has died at the age 118. According to an AFP report, spokesman David Tavella said that she died in her sleep at her nursing home in Toulon.

She was born on February 11, 1904, a decade away from the first World War.

"There is great sadness but... it was her desire to join her beloved brother. For her, it's a liberation," Tavella, of the Sainte-Catherine-Laboure nursing home, told AFP.

Before the death of Japan's Kane Tanaka at the age of 119 last year, Sister Andre was the longest-living European. 

The New York subway had just opened when Randon was born, also the Tour de France had just staged once, according to AFP.

According to the Guardian, Sister Andre worked as a governor and tutor before she entered a convent at the age of 44 in 1944. 

Since 1979 Randon had been in nursing homes, in 2009, she was in the Toulon home. She spent her days in the nursing home in prayer, between which she took breaks for mealtimes and visits from residents and hospice workers.

The Guardian reported, she tested positive for Covid-19 in 2021, when the nursing home was swept by the virus, killing 10 of its residents. She told Var-Matin newspaper then, “I didn’t even realise I had it.”

Tavella told Van-Martin that she had shown no fear of the virus.

“She didn’t ask me about her health but about her routine. She wanted to know for example if the meal and bedtimes were going to change. She showed no fear of the illness, in fact, she was more worried about the other residents,” Tavella said.