Maria Branyas, a Spanish woman born in the United States who was considered the world’s oldest person at 117 years old, has passed away, her family announced on Tuesday.

In a post on Branyas’ X account, her family wrote: “Maria Branyas has left us. She has gone the way she wanted: in her sleep, at peace, and without pain.”

The Gerontology Research Group, which verifies the details of individuals believed to be 110 or older, recognized Branyas as the oldest known person in the world following the death of last year.

The next oldest person listed by the Gerontology Research Group is now Japan’s Tomiko Itooka, who is 116 years old.

Branyas was born on March 4, 1907. After residing in New Orleans for several years, where her father established a magazine, her family returned to Spain during her childhood. Branyas recounted memories of crossing the Atlantic Ocean during World War I.

Her X account is named “Super Catalan Grandma” and carries the description: “I am old, very old, but not an idiot.”

At the age of 113, Branyas tested positive for COVID-19 during the global pandemic but avoided developing severe symptoms that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of elderly Spaniards.

At the time of her death, she was residing in a nursing home in the Catalan town of Olot.

Her family shared that Branyas told them days before her death: “I don’t know when, but very soon this long journey will come to an end. Death will find me worn down from having lived so much, but I want to meet it with a smile, feeling free and satisfied.”