World's oldest person dies aged 114

Emma Faust Tillman, whose life spanned three centuries and 21 US presidencies, died last night at a nursing home in Hartford, Connecticut, the facility’s administrator said.

At 114, she was the world’s oldest known living person.

Tillman, the daughter of former slaves, was born during the administration of President Benjamin Harrison.

Her reign as the world’s oldest person was short-lived; she assumed the title on January 14 with the death of 115-year-old Emiliano Mercado del Toro of Puerto Rico.

“She went peacefully,” said Karen Chadderton, administrator of Riverside Health and Rehabilitation Centre.

Yone Minagawa, now believed to be the world’s oldest living person, has a healthy appetite that’s developed over the past 114 years, according to the staff at her nursing home in southern Japan.

Born on January 4, 1893, Minagawa has lived through four Japanese emperors and was announced as the world’s oldest person by the Guinness Book of World Records following the death yesterday of Emma Faust Tillman, also 114.

Minagawa has been living at the Keiju nursing home in the south-western city of Fukuoka for several years and maintains a healthy appetite though she seldom leaves her bed, said nurse Sumako Katsuki.

“When she feels good, she ventures to the dining room by motorised wheelchair,” Katsuki said.