The oldest living person in the world, Spaniard Maria Branyas Morera, who was born in the United States and lived through two world wars, the Spanish Civil War, the 1918 flu pandemic and the COVID pandemichas died at the age of 117, her family announced on Tuesday.

“Maria Branyas has left us. She died as she wished: in her sleep, peacefully and without pain,” her family wrote on their account on the social network X.

“We will always remember her for her advice and kindness,” they said.

Branyas, who had lived in the Santa Maria del Tura nursing home in the town of Olot in northeastern Spain for the past two decades, warned in a post on Tuesday that she felt “weak.”

“The time is near. Don’t cry, I don’t like tears. And above all, don’t suffer for me. Wherever I go, I will be happy,” she added in the account run by her family.

Guinness World Records officially recognized Branyas as the world’s oldest person in January 2023, after French nun Lucile Randon died at the age of 118.

Following Branyas’ death, Japanese woman Tomiko Itooka is the oldest living person in the world. She was born on May 23, 1908 and is 116 years old, according to the US Gerontology Research Group.

Branyas contracted Covid-19 in 2020, just weeks after celebrating her 113th birthday, and was confined to her room at the home, but made a full recovery.

Her youngest daughter, Rosa Moret, once attributed her mother’s longevity to “genetics.”

“She has never been to hospital, she has never broken a bone, she is fine, she is not in pain,” Moret told regional Catalan television in 2023.

Branjas celebrated her 116th birthday in March 2023 at her Santa Maria del Tura home in Olot, Catalonia, Spain, surrounded by friends, fans and her 78-year-old daughter Rosa. Branyas was clear-headed and spoke fondly about her childhood, said Ben Meyers, CEO of LongeviQuest, a longevity company that brings together researchers around the world on longevity.

Meyers, who accompanied her at the Residenz, said she was touched by the greetings from her many fans from all over the world.

“It warms my heart,” said Branyas.

Branyas was born in California on March 4, 1907, a year after her parents emigrated to the United States. According to Guinness, she spent the first years of her life in San Francisco. Eight years later, the family decided to return to Spain, where they settled in Catalonia. According to Guinness World Records, she married Joan Moret in 1931 and had three children, 11 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

Like most, she had her share of triumphs and tragedies. Among other things, according to Guinness World Records, her father died of pulmonary tuberculosis on the journey from the USA to Spain.

Still, she told her followers on social media: “Never become a bitter person, no matter what happens.”

Cara Tabachnick and Brian Dakss contributed to this report.