María Branyas Morera, The Oldest Living Woman — And The Oldest Person Alive
MariaBranyas112/XAs of 2023, María Branyas Morera is the oldest person alive.
As of publication, the oldest verified living woman is 116-year-old María Branyas Morera, a Spanish citizen who was born in the United States in 1907.
Branyas Morera has lived an eventful — and sometimes difficult — life. She moved frequently as a child, and her father died during their voyage to Spain. Once in Europe, Branyas Morera also lived through the Spanish Civil War, which The Guardian reports left her with “very bad memories.”
As she’s gotten older, Branyas Morera has embraced new technologies like X (formerly Twitter), where her bio reads: “I am old, very old, but not an idiot.”
MariaBranyas112/XA picture of María Branyas Morera — the oldest person alive — as a young woman.
So how did Branyas Morera become the oldest person alive?
According to Guinness World Records, Branyas Morera values “order, tranquility, good connection with family and friends, contact with nature, emotional stability, no worries, no regrets, lots of positivity, and staying away from toxic people.” The oldest person alive also added: “I think longevity is also about being lucky. Luck and good genetics.”
She and Pérez Mora are currently some of the oldest verified people alive, and everyone we’ve covered so far has had their ages officially verified too. But what about the people with unverified ages?
Huvaydo Umarova, The Woman Who Claims To Be 128 Years Old
kun.uzAn Uzbek woman named Huvaydo Umarova claims to be 128 years old and she is apparently still alive today.
Jeanne Calment holds the record as the oldest person to ever live. But some claim that an Uzbek woman named Huvaydo Umarova is not only older than Calment — who died at 122 — but that Umarova is still alive.
Though sources on the matter are scarce, some claim that Umarova was born in 1895, which would make her 128 years old in 2023 (and a full six years older than Calment was when she passed away). Kun.uz, an Uzbek website, claims to have evidence in the form of Umarova’s passport, which, indeed, appears to show her birthdate as January 1, 1895.
For her part, Umarova claims to have lived through a number of revolutions, famines, two World Wars, and the Soviet era. She also claimed that her father, uncle, and aunt all lived to be over 100 years old.
kun.uzHuvaydo Umarova’s passport appears to show that she was born in 1895.
“God willing, I will turn 150,” Umarova told the Uzbek website.
For reasons that are somewhat unclear, Umarova’s age has never been verified by Guinness World Records. Though she is apparently still alive today — and hoping to live another couple of decades — she’s received no official recognition for her alleged age. Neither has anyone else that we’ll cover moving forward. And they claim to be even older than Umarova.
