French 118-Year-Old Nun Becomes World's Oldest Person After Testing Positive for COVID-19

Resident of Toulon Nursing Home Since 2009... Currently Blind

The Guinness World Records announced that Sister Andre from France has become the oldest living person in the world following the death of the 119-year-old Japanese woman, the world's oldest person. The photo shows Sister Andre.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] The Guinness World Records announced that with the passing of the world's oldest person, a 119-year-old Japanese woman, Sister Andre from France has become the oldest living person in the world.

According to foreign media including the Daily Mail on the 25th (local time), Sister Andre celebrated her 118th birthday last February. She is the oldest living person in Europe and holds the record as the fourth oldest person in history worldwide. She was born in February 1904 in Al?s, southern France, ten years before the outbreak of World War I.

Since her birth, France has had 18 different presidents. In neighboring Britain, 24 prime ministers have been replaced. The Spanish flu, which killed tens of millions worldwide in 1918, also broke out after her birth.

Sister Andre is also the world's oldest person to have recovered from COVID-19. She contracted the virus in February last year, just weeks before her 117th birthday, and recovered within three weeks without any significant symptoms.

At that time, she jokingly said, "I am happy to be with you all, but I also want to meet my older brother and grandmother who passed away before me."

Sister Andre began working as a private tutor at age 12 and is known to have cared for and taught children during World War II. She became a nun in 1944, one year before the war ended, and after the war, she cared for orphans and the elderly at a hospital in Vichy for 28 years.

She retired at age 75 in 1979 and has been living in a nursing home in Toulon since 2009 for 13 years. Currently, her eyesight has weakened to the point of blindness.

Sister Andre credits her longevity to "daily prayers and a cup of cocoa." She wakes up every day at 7 a.m., relying on a wheelchair, attends mass, and maintains a regular routine including breakfast. She also revealed that a piece of chocolate and a glass of wine are her daily "happiness" that she never misses until her last day. On her 118th birthday, she confessed, "I am not afraid of death. But I think the Lord has forgotten me."

Meanwhile, Sister Andre, now the oldest living person, expressed her joy. A spokesperson for her nursing home stated, "Her goal is to surpass the world record of 122 years."