The world's oldest known person, French nun Lucile Randon, has died aged 118, her spokesman said on Tuesday.

Randon, known as Sister Andre, was born in southern France on February 11, 1904, when World War I was still a decade away. 

AFP file video

She died in her sleep at her nursing home in Toulon, spokesman David Tavella said. 

"There is great sadness but... it was her desire to join her beloved brother. For her, it's a liberation," Tavella, of the Sainte-Catherine-Laboure nursing home, told AFP.

Randon was born in the year New York opened its first subway and when the Tour de France had only been staged once.

Her days in the nursing home were punctuated by prayer, mealtimes and visits from residents and hospice workers.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.