World’s oldest person dies in Italy at age 117

Saturday, April 15, 2017

The world's oldest person has died in Italy at the age of 117. Emma Morano was born on November 29, 1899. She was officially the last person born in the 1800s still living!

She had attributed her longevity to her genetics and a diet of three eggs a day, two of them raw.

Ms Morano was the oldest of eight siblings, all of whom she has outlived. Her life not only spanned three centuries but also survived an abusive marriage, the loss of her only son, two World Wars and more than 90 Italian governments.

Ms Morano had admitted that her longevity was partly down to genetics: her mother reached 91 and several sisters reached their centenary.

But it was also down to a rather unusual diet of three eggs - two raw - each day for more than 90 years. Her doctor of 27 years, Carlo Bava, had told AFP news agency that she rarely ate vegetables or fruit.

Ms Morano also credited her longevity to her decision, in 1938, to kick out her husband - a year after her baby boy died at just six months old.

According to the US-based Gerontology Research Group (GRG), the world's oldest human being is now Jamaican Violet Brown, who was born on March 10, 1900.

Click here for the BBC news article.