MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Oldest person in the world dies aged 119

The oldest person alive is now French nun Sister André, aged 118 years.

Japanese citizen Kane Tanaka, who had been certified as the world's oldest person, died Monday at the age of 119 and 108 days, it was reported.

Born Jan. 2, 1903, in the village of Wajiro, now part of the Fukuoka Prefecture, Tanaka was confirmed by Guinness in 2019 as the oldest person on Earth at the age of 116 years. She was the seventh child out of nine siblings.

Tanaka got married at the age of 19 and the family made a living by running udon noodle restaurants. She reportedly took over her family’s business when her husband and eldest son left to fight in the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. Tanaka’s late husband, Hideo, died in 1993.

The woman had been living in a nursing home for several years and was a regular feature in Japanese articles and television programs on the occasion of her birthday or the national celebration of Respect for the Elderly Day.

Her favorite food was chocolate and she enjoyed carbonated beverages, as was often seen in photographs and videos reported in the local media.

The elderly woman applied to participate in the Olympic torch relay leg of the Tokyo Olympic Games but ultimately rejected the idea out of COVID-19 concerns.

Tanaka was recognized as of 2019 by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) and the Guinness World Record as the world's oldest living woman and person.

After her death, the oldest person alive is French nun Lucile Randon, better known as Sister André, who is now 118 years and 74 days old.

The oldest living Japanese is now Fusa Tatsumi, who has just turned 115 and is also the fifth oldest person in the world on record.