The Élysée regrets the death of Sister André and affirms that it was “an emblem of continuity and resistance”

Jan. 18 () –

The Élysée mourned this Wednesday the death of Lucile Randon, a nun known as Sister André, who was an “emblem of continuity and resistance” living through two world wars and witnessing the mandate of 18 French presidents.

Randon, the world’s oldest living woman, witnessed “the arrival of electricity at her school” as well as the industrial transformation of the early 20th century, with the appearance of automobiles and aviation.

Still cultivating two of her most everyday pleasures, a glass of wine and a bar of chocolate, at 118, she kept the French tradition of longevity alive, often joking about breaking the record in front of Jeanne Calment. recalled in an emotional statement at the Élysée.

Calment, who was born in Arles, France, and died in 1997 when he was 122 years and 164 days old, still holds the honor of being the person who has lived the longest in history according to the ‘Guinness Book of Records’.

André, who died the day before, was born in the south of France in 1904, and was included in April 2022 in the list of oldest living people. According to Guinness World Records, she was the second oldest French and European person ever recorded.