For a brief moment in history, there was exactly one person left who could remember the 1800s firsthand. Emma Morano, born in Italy on November 29, 1899, became the last verified person born in the nineteenth century. When she died on April 15, 2017, at age 117, she took the entire 1800s with her.

No one alive today was born in the 1800s. The last thread connecting us to that century disappeared when Morano passed away in her small apartment in Verbania, Italy. She was 117 years and 137 days old.

A Life Across Three Centuries

Morano's life was a bridge between worlds almost unrecognizable to each other. Born when Queen Victoria still reigned and horse-drawn carriages filled the streets, she lived to see the internet, smartphones, and space exploration. Her lifetime spanned three centuries, two world wars, and more than 90 Italian governments.

When American supercentenarian Susannah Mushatt Jones died in May 2016, Morano inherited two titles: world's oldest living person and the last verified person born before 1900. She held both distinctions for less than a year before her own death.

The Secret to 117 Years?

Morano attributed her exceptional longevity to two things: leaving her abusive husband in 1938 (nearly unheard of in Catholic Italy at the time) and a peculiar diet. For most of her adult life, she ate three raw eggs per day - two raw, one cooked - along with cookies.

Whether the eggs actually helped is debatable, but her independence certainly did. After separating from her husband, Morano lived alone for nearly 80 years, working in a jute factory until she was 75.

Where We Stand Now

As of 2025, the oldest verified living person is significantly younger than Morano was. The current record holders were all born in the 1900s - the earliest in 1907. To still be alive from the 1800s today, someone would need to be at least 125 years old, which would surpass even Jeanne Calment's verified record of 122 years and 164 days.

The gap between centuries grows wider every year. Soon, even people who knew someone born in the 1800s will be gone. Morano's death marked more than the end of a remarkable life - it closed a chapter of human history that can never be reopened.

All we have left are the records, the photographs, and the stories of a woman who outlived her entire century.

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