World's oldest known person, French nun Sister Andre, dies at 118

French nun Sister Andre, the world's oldest person, passed away at 118 in France, her retirement home told Reuters on Tuesday.

Lucile Randon, who took the name of Sister Andre when she joined a Catholic charitable order in 1944, had survived COVID last year.

She was born on Feb. 11, 1904, and was the world's oldest living person according to the Gerontology Research Group's (GRG) World Supercentenarian Rankings List.

She was confirmed as both the oldest person living (female) and overall oldest person living back in April 2022 following the passing of Kane Tanaka (Japan).

Lucile, who took the name of Sister André in 1944, is the second-oldest French person and the second-oldest European person ever recorded.

Sister André lived a full life and in her younger years worked as a teacher, a governess and looked after children during World War II.

After the war, she spent 28 years working with orphans and elderly people at a hospital in Vichy, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region before becoming a Catholic nun.

Spending most of her life dedicated to religious service, Sister André also held the record for the oldest nun living.

In 2019, she was made an honorary citizen of the city in which she resides - Toulon in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region - and received a letter from Pope Francis.

More recently, Sister André received yet another startling record for the oldest COVID-19 survivor.

After already living through the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918, she tested positive for coronavirus on 16 January 2021, and was quickly isolated in her retirement home to stop the virus spreading.

Defying the odds, she shook off the virus after three weeks with no symptoms or side effects other than a little tiredness, in time to celebrate her 117th birthday.

Lucile was just over three years away from becoming the oldest person ever, a record held by Jeanne Louise Calment (France).