Sister Andre: World’s oldest person dies at 118 after surviving Spanish flu, two World Wars and Covid-19

The world’s oldest person, a French nun named Sister Andre, has died at the age of 118. Her retirement home in Toulon confirmed that she had died in her sleep on Tuesday (January 17), with a spokesman adding: “For her, it’s a liberation.”

Sister Andre was born Lucile Randon on February 11, 1904, a decade before World War One began. She took the name Sister Andre after joining a Catholic charitable order in 1944.

She made it through two global health crises - Spanish flu in 1918 and Covid-19 in the last few years. Speaking to news outlets as she celebrated her 117th birthday after a health scare in February 2021, Sister Andre said she had no fear of death.

“I wasn’t scared because I wasn’t scared to die,” she said, before going on to say that her birthday marked with a prayer and a cake had pleased her “so, so, so much.” She added: “I met all those that I loved and thank God for giving them to me.”

In April 2022, the nun claimed that her secret to long life was work. She said: “They say that work kills, but it was work that made me live - I worked until I was 108”. Sister Andre was also known to have a glass of wine once a day.

According to the Gerontology Research Group’s World Supercentenarian Rankings List, Sister Andre was the oldest person in the world. The nun was also the second-oldest European ever recorded, around four years short of Jeanne Calment, the oldest person in history who died at 122.