French nun André, thought to be the world's oldest person, has died at the age of 118. She died in her sleep in a retirement home in Toulon in southern France on Tuesday night, the facility's spokesman, David Tavella, told the AFP news agency on Tuesday evening. "There is great sadness, but she wanted it, it was her wish, to get to her beloved brother. For her, it's a liberation."

The nun, real name Lucile Randon, survived two world wars and the Spanish flu. Since the death of Japanese Kane Tanaka last April, she has been considered the oldest person in the world. The French celebrated her 118th birthday on February 11th. Shortly before her 117th birthday, she had survived a corona infection.

The nun was born on February 11, 1904 in Alès, southern France, into a family of Protestant origin. It was not until she was a young adult that she was baptized Catholic. At the age of about 40 she joined the order of the Vincentians. For more than three decades she worked in a hospital in the city of Vichy, taking care of orphans and the elderly.