118-Year-Old Nun Takes The Title For Oldest Person Alive

It’s official: The oldest documented person alive is 118-year-old Lucile Randon.

The Guinness World Records tweeted the news, writing: “New record: Oldest living person – Sister André, aged 118 years and 73 days old. Sister André, born 11 February 1904 as Lucile Randon, is the oldest living person as well as the world’s oldest nun and the oldest person to survive COVID-19.”

New record: Oldest living person – Sister André, aged 118 years and 73 days old.

Sister André, born 11 February 1904 as Lucile Randon, is the oldest living person as well as the world's oldest nun and the oldest person to survive COVID-19 🙏 pic.twitter.com/3HisPI4saO

— Guinness World Records (@GWR) April 25, 2022

It’s always a momentous occasion when the official world’s record books are updated, isn’t it?

Of course, this woman has also managed to live through no shortage of momentous occasions of her own. She’s seen not one but two global pandemics. She lived through both world wars and the First Industrial Revolution.

This nun has also seen an astonishing amount of technological growth. She can remember a day without television, let alone the Internet and smartphones.

Lucile Randon is a 118-year-old nun from France, who also happens to be known as Sister André. Lucile has seen all of the aforementioned events in real-time, which puts her in a very unique position as compared to the rest of us. Now, this Toulon nursing home resident has taken over the title as the world’s oldest living person.

The April 19, 2022 death of the former titleholder, 119-year-old Kane Tanaka of Japan, opened the door.

Randon was born in Ales, southern France, on February 11, 1904. In 1944, she became a Catholic nun, taking on the name of Sister André. Since then, she has spent her entire life in service of others. She’s worked as a teacher and governess, in addition to the decades that she spent working with orphans and elderly people at a hospital in Vichy, Auvergne-Rhodes-Alpes region.

She even continued to care for others after she moved into a nursing home, providing assistance to younger residents until she reached 100 years of age. She can no longer see, as age has certainly taken its toll over the course of time.

Despite losing her sight and being confined to a wheelchair, she has not lost her feisty, independent spirit.

Her goal now is a simple one: to outlive Jeanne Calment. This woman reportedly lived to be 122 and passed away in 1997. We wish her all the best going forward!

Check out the video below: