Meet The oldest person in the world, Emma Morano, As She turned 117 yesterday!

Emma Morano--The world's oldest person and the only living person today who was born in the 1800s! The Italian supercentenarian was born on this day in a tiny village near Milan in 1899. When asked about the secret to her long life, she credits her steady diet of raw eggs, getting plenty of sleep, and staying single. After a doctor recommended eating raw eggs to counter anemia when she was in her teens, Morano ate three raw eggs a day for decades, though in the past few years, she's dropped her daily intake to two. She's also stayed single since an unhappy marriage ended in 1938 following the death of her infant son; "I didn’t want to be dominated by anyone,” Morano asserts.

Morano still lives alone in a small apartment with the help of family and neighbors. Rosemarie Santoni, her niece and principal caregiver, comes by every morning to prepare her meals for the day, which in addition to eggs include soupy pasta and a banana. Her doctor of nearly 20 years, Carlo Bava, says that although she has a few physical impairments, such as being hard of hearing, her mind and memory are very sharp, noting: “She’s in great form and I think she’s happy to have made it to this birthday.” Her unique diet aside, Bava adds that he believes the most important factor behind Morano's extreme longevity are her abundance of close family and friends. "The secret is in growing old with people who love you," he observes, "which is different from growing old and being put up with."

She is the oldest verified Italian person ever, and one of the ten verified oldest people ever.


In 2011, Morano was visited as part of a worldwide study conducted by George Church for Harvard Medical School of Boston, to study the secret of her longevity. In December of that year, she was awarded the honor of Knight of Order of Merit of the Italian Republic by President Giorgio Napolitano.

Morano became the oldest living person in Italy and Europe after the death of Maria Redaelli on 2 April 2013. On her 114th birthday, she gave a short live TV interview to a RAI show. On her 116th birthday, Morano received congratulations from Pope Francis.[15] She surpassed the age of Venere Pizzinato in August 2014 and Dina Manfredini (who died in the USA) in August 2015, to become the oldest Italian person ever. On 13 May 2016,[b] upon the death of American woman Susannah Mushatt Jones, Morano became the world's oldest living person and also the last living person verified to have been born in the 1800s. On 29 July 2016 she was presented with a certificate from Guinness World Records recognizing her as the oldest person alive.

CREDIT-- A Mighty Girl and wikipedia.org