María Branyas Morera

BIOGRAPHY

Branyas Morera was born in San Francisco, California, on 4 March 1907 as the daughter of Josep Branyas Julià (born 1877) and Teresa Morera Laqué (born 1880), who were married on 14 January 1901. Her siblings were Josep (born 1902), Teresa (born 1905), and William (born 1913). In 1903, her father travelled to Mexico via Veracruz State to continue an uncle’s business.

On 19 May 1904, Branyas Morera’s father returned to Veracruz, Mexico, to wait for the arrival of the ship “SS Montserrat” and reunite with his wife and eldest son. The family relocated to San Francisco, California, on 5 October 1906, where Branyas Morera was born the following year.

The family later travelled to New Orleans, and from there emigrated to Olot, Catalonia, Spain in May 1915. While aboard the Catalania, Branyas Morera injured her eardrum in a fall, resulting in her permanently losing hearing in said ear. Towards the end of the voyage, her father died from pulmonary tuberculosis at the age of 37, leaving her mother to raise their four children independently.

Branyas Morera married Joan Moret Roura on 16 July 1931 and had three children: August (1932), Teresa (1933), and Rosa (1944).

Upon the commencement of the Spanish Civil War on 18 July 1936, Branyas Morera’s husband fled to France and re-entered Spain through San Sebastian, where he had some friends who could help him. He was assigned to Trujillo, Extremadura, as a military doctor. After a while, Branyas Morera and their two eldest children moved there to be with him. In 1939, following the war’s end, the family returned to Catalonia and settled in Girona, living on Minali Street.

In November 2000, when she was 93, Branyas Morera moved into a care home in Olot. At the age of 110, she still read the newspaper every day. As of August 2019, she had 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

RECOGNITION

On 22 December 2019, Branyas Morera became the oldest living person in Spain following the death of Josefa Santos González. She became the last living person in Spain born in 1907 upon the death of Virtudes Tomás Navarro on 20 April 2020.

Branyas Morera became the last living person in Europe born in 1907 following the 16 January 2021 death of Frenchwoman Marie-Louise Berthelot. She is also the oldest person ever born in the U. S. state of California, achieving this title after surpassing the age of Ruth Newman in January 2021.

Branyas Morera became the last person living in Spain born in the 1900s decade upon the death of world’s oldest man Saturnino de la Fuente García on 18 January 2022.

Upon the death of Thelma Sutcliffe on 17 January 2022, Branyas Morera became the oldest validated living American-born person, as well as the oldest validated living person born in the Americas following the death of Antonia da Santa Cruz on 23 January 2022.