Italian Morano, last known survivor of 19th century, dies Easter eve at 117

“How does my hair look,” she asked before blowing out the candles on her 117th birthday cake last year.

“What impresses me most is her memory. She forgets nothing,” Yamile Vergara, her nurse for over 40 years, said at the time.

“Her sense of humour is her therapy”.

The eldest of eight children, Morano outlived all of her younger siblings.

Robert Young, director of the Los Angeles-based GRG’s Supercentenarian Research and Database Division, said he had been following Morano ‘s progress for the past seven years, calling her an example of “super-ageing individuals who seem to age at a slower rate than normal — maybe even a few percentage points slower, but enough to make a difference”.

The world longevity record, he noted, remained with French woman Jeanne Calment, who died at 122 in 1997, having outlived both her daughter and grandson. “That’s superconfirmed,” Young said.

Emma Morano goes into the record books as the fifth longest life ever verified.

In 1900, when Violet Brown was born, Jamaica was part of the British West Indies, so her records are from the British government, in Queen Victoria’s time.

“Unless a surprise candidate comes out of the trees, she is the oldest living Victorian,” said Young.

The ten oldest people on record

Italian Emma Morano’s death on Saturday at the age of 117 years, leaves Jamaican Violet Brown, born March 10 1900, as the oldest living person, according to the Gerontology Research Group (GRG).

Here is the list of the ten oldest living people on the planet, all of whom are women, according to the US-based group.

The list is dominated by Japanese and Italian women with the oldest man coming in at 16th place at the age of 113.

– Violet Brown, 117 years old, Jamaica

– Nabi Tajima, 116, Japan

– Chiyo Miyako, 115, Japan

– Ana Vela-Rubio, 115, Spain

– Marie-Josephine Gaudette, 115, Italy (born in US)

– Giuseppina Projetto-Frau, 114, Italy

– Kane Tanaka, 114, Japan

– Maria-Giuseppa Robucci-Nargiso 114, Italy

– Iso Nakamura, 113,, Japan

– Tae Ito, 113, Japan