Maria Branyas, an American-born Spaniard believed to be the world’s oldest person at 117, has died, her family said on Tuesday.

In a post on Ms Branyas’s account on X, her family wrote: “Maria Branyas has left us. She has gone the way she wanted: in her sleep, at peace, and without pain.”

The Gerontology Research Group, which validates details of people thought to be 110 or older, listed Ms Branyas as the oldest known person in the world after the death of French nun Lucile Randon last year.

Ms Branyas was born in San Francisco on March 4 1907, before her family returned to Spain when she was young.

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