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Morano loved cookies and would hide some under her pillow
Leaving her abusive husband also led to a long life, she said last year
CNN —The oldest person in the world, Emma Morano of Italy, credits her longevity to a diet of raw eggs and ending her abusive marriage long before divorce was even legal.
She was 117.
The Italian was born on November 29, 1899. She held the Guinness World Record titles for oldest living person and oldest living woman.
“She joined our celebrated hall of fame with her amazing achievement when she was announced in 2016 as the oldest living female, and was officially confirmed as the last person to be born in the 1800s,” Guinness World Records said in a statement on its website.
It said it will announce a new oldest person after reviewing evidence.
Morano credited her longevity to ending her abusive marriage, and a diet of raw eggs and cookies.
“I didn’t want to be dominated by anyone,” she told The New York Times of her 1938 separation from her husband.
An elderly watches penitents wearing traditional dresses during the Good Friday procession "I Giudei". The Italian diet, combined with a warmer climate that promotes outdoor activity, are thought to play z role in healthy aging among Italians. MARCELLO PATERNOSTRO/AFP/Getty Images galleryAnd despite her age, Morano had a childlike love of cookies, her doctor Carlo Bava said. So much so, she routinely hid them under her pillow so no one would eat them.
Morano became the world’s oldest living person last year after American Susannah Mushatt Jones died at age 116.
She was five years younger than Jeanne Calment, the 122-year-old who held the title for oldest person ever.
Guinness said the oldest living man is Israel Kristal, a Holocaust survivor who turned 113 in September.
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