French nun André, believed to be the oldest person in the world, has died aged 118. She died in her sleep at a nursing home in Toulon, in the south of France, on Tuesday night, the institution’s spokesman, David Tavella, told the AFP news agency on Tuesday night. “The sadness is great, but she wanted, it was her desire, to reach her dear brother. For her it is a liberation.”
The nun, whose real name is Lucile Randon, survived two world wars and the Spanish flu. Since the death of Japanese Kane Tanaka last April, she has been considered the oldest person in the world. The Frenchwoman celebrated her 118th birthday on February 11. Shortly before her 117th birthday, she had survived a corona infection.
The nun was born on February 11, 1904 in Alès, southern France, into a family of Protestant origin. It wasn’t until she was a young adult that she was baptized as a Catholic. At the age of 40, she joined the Vincentian Order. She worked for more than three decades in a hospital in the city of Vichy, caring for orphans and the elderly.