Emma Morano, the last known person alive who was born in the 1800s, has celebrated her 117th birthday.

Born on 29 November 1899, four years before the Wright brothers first took to the air, she is the world’s oldest living person. Her life has spanned three centuries, two world wars and over 90 Italian governments.

And the secret to her longevity appears to lie in eschewing usual medical wisdom.

“I eat two eggs a day and that’s it. And cookies. But I do not eat much because I have no teeth,” Morano said last month at her home in Verbania, a town in northern Italy on Lake Maggiore.

On Tuesday she celebrated her birthday in an armchair in her apartment, joined by her two elderly nieces, a pair of caregivers and her long-time physician.

She received a greeting from Italy’s president, read by an official, wishing her “serenity and good health,” and appeared for a brief live broadcast on state-run television. She happily accepted some gifts, including her favourite biscuits, which she ate with some milk.

Then she blew out the candles on her cake not one for every year, but three numerals to show her age, 117 and quipped: “I hope I don’t have to cut it!”

To the assembled well-wishers, Morano said, “I am happy to turn 117,” and drew encouragement from her physician, Dr. Carlo Bava. “Who would have said it?” the doctor remarked. “When you were young everyone used to say you were weak and sick.”

Another party, including a visit from the mayor and another cake, was planned for the afternoon, after a nap.

Morano has a Guinness World Records certificate declaring her to be the oldest person alive. She told Reuters TV on Tuesday that her life “wasn’t so nice”. “I worked in a factory until I was 65, then that was that.”

In an interview with La Stampa newspaper five years ago she said her fiance had died in World War One and that she had then been forced to marry a man she did not love.

“’Either you agree to marry me or I will kill you’,” Morano said, recalling his proposal. “I was 26. We got married.”

The eldest of eight children who has outlived all her younger siblings, she knows that people are curious about her.

“People come. I don’t invite anybody but they come. From America, Switzerland, Austria, Turin, Milan … They come from all over to see me,” she said.

Birthdays aside, Morano is a solitary person. Having left her violent husband in 1938 shortly after the death in infancy of her only son, she lived alone, working in a factory producing jute sacks to support herself.

She clung to her independence, only taking on a full-time carer last year, though she has not left her small two-room apartment for 20 years, and has been bed-bound for the last year.

While her mind is alert, she is very deaf, speaks with difficulty and does not see well enough to watch television, spending her time instead either sleeping or snacking.

Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.

CREDIT LINK:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/30/europes-oldest-person-emma-morano-116th-birthday-italy