French nun Sister Andre now world's oldest person

By Shweta Desai

PARIS (AA) - Supercentenarian French nun, Sister Andre who beat COVID-19, is now the world’s oldest living person at 118 years after the death of Japan’s Kane Tanaka who passed away at the age of 119, the mayor of Toulon city announced Monday.

Lucile Randon, known as Sister Andre, is blind and lives at a retirement home in southern France’s Toulon city. She became the honorary recipient of the title dean of France in October 2017 and dean of Europeans or Europe’s oldest person in June 2019.

Randon was born on Feb. 11, 1904. She was a governess before turning her devotion in 1944 to the Catholic Church's Company of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, where she changed her name to Sister Andre.

She tested positive for COVID-19 before her 117th birthday last year. She credits her healthy life to a daily dose of Porto wine and chocolate.

According to the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group, which claims to be the foremost authority on the world's oldest humans, she is now the world’s oldest human.

Mayor Hubert Falco said with the death of Tanaka, Sister Andre is the “new Dean of Humanity.” He described her as an “exemplary woman” who remains gentle despite all the hardships, speaks soothingly of love and peace, and believes in humanity.

“Her words are always filled with compassion, lucidity, and always without judgment,” he said on Twitter.

He hoped the honorary citizen of Toulon will live for a long time so that she continues to share her “love, wisdom, humor, and values” with the people.