italy Woman, 116, seen as last person alive who was born in 1800s

Associated Press

VERBANIA, Italy

Surrounded by relatives and friends, Italy’s Emma Morano greeted with a smile the news that she, at 116, is now the oldest person in the world.

Not only that, but Morano is believed to be the last surviving person in the world born in the 1800s, with a birthdate of Nov. 29, 1899. That’s just 41/2 months after Susannah Mushatt Jones, who died Thursday in New York, also at 116.

Journalists on Friday descended upon Morano’s home in Verbania, a northern Italian mountain town overlooking Lake Major, to document her achievement, but had to wait until she finished a nap to greet her.

Morano lives in a neat, one-room apartment, which she no longer leaves, and is kept company by a caregiver and two elderly nieces.

‘’I am doing fine –116!” she told well-wishers from her bed Friday.

“I finished school and I went to work. I used to sing. I had a beautiful voice,” she added, summing up her life in a frail voice.

Her physician of 23 years, Dr. Carlo Bava, delivered the news that she was officially the world’s oldest person.

‘’She was very, very happy” and sitting up in a chair, he told The Associated Press in a phone interview. ‘’She was all proud and contented.”

For the occasion, he brought flowers as well seven Easter cakes called Colomba, an Italian specialty that he managed to procure out of season to satisfy her sweet tooth until Christmas, when Panettone is available.

The doctor said Morano has never had a very balanced diet, relying mostly on animal protein, the occasional banana and grapes in season.