The world's oldest person, Emma Morano, has died at 117 at her home in northern Italy. She was believed to have been the last surviving person in the world who was born in the 1800s.
Dr. Carlo Bava told The Associated Press by telephone that Morano's caretaker called him to say the woman had passed away Saturday afternoon while sitting in an armchair in her home in Verbania, a town on Lake Maggiore.
Bava said he had last paid his nearly-daily call on Morano on Friday. He says "she thanked me and held my hand" as usual.
Morano was born on Nov. 29, 1899.
Her life spanned three centuries, and she was one of the five oldest people in recorded history.
In a September 2016 interview with AFP, she discussed the secret of her longevity, saying: “I eat two eggs a day, and that’s it. And cookies. But I do not eat much because I have no teeth."
She was confirmed as the oldest living person by Guinness World Records in May 2016. Morano's mother, aunt and even some of her siblings made it into their 90s. One of her sisters, Angela Morano, passed at the age of 102.