The oldest person in the world, a 118-year-old French nun, has shared the secret to a long life: A glass of wine every day. And chocolate.
Sister André, who the Guinness World Records recognised as the oldest person in the world on Monday, was already the oldest woman in Europe when she turned 117. But after the death of 119-year-old Japanese woman Kane Tanaka, the title was passed onto her.
Lucile, who took the name of Sister André in 1944, is the third-oldest French person and the third-oldest European person ever recorded, the Guinness World Records stated in its website.
She has been living in a retirement home for the last 12 years. She is now partially deaf and uses a wheelchair, but likes to keep her mind active.
"They get me up at 7 am, they give me my breakfast, then they put me at my desk where I stay busy with little things."
She indulges now and again in sweets, especially chocolate which is her "guilty pleasure", and has a glass of wine everyday.
A staff member from Sister André's care home said, "Her glass of wine maintains her and which is perhaps her longevity secret. I don't know -- I don't encourage people to drink a glass of wine everyday!"
Spending most of her life dedicated to religious service, Sister André also holds the record for the oldest nun living.
She is also the oldest COVID-19 survivor.
After already living through the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918, she tested positive for coronavirus on 16 January 2021, and was quickly isolated in her retirement home to stop the virus spreading.
Defying the odds, she shook off the virus after three weeks with no symptoms or side effects other than a little tiredness, in time to celebrate her 117th birthday.
Sister André has worked as a teacher, a governess and looked after children during World War II. After the war, she spent 28 years working with orphans and elderly people at a hospital in Vichy, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region before becoming a Catholic nun.
In 2019, she was made an honorary citizen of the city in which she resides, Toulon, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region, France, and received a letter from Pope Francis.
