She attained that distinction on April 19 when the previous title-holder, a Japanese woman, died at age 119.

Sister André, who has been the oldest person in Europe since 2009, contracted COVID-19 in January 2020 but "did not even "realise it".

She celebrated her 118th birthday on February 11 with Mass and a festive lunch in a nursing home in Toulon, a Mediterranean coastal city where she's lived since 2009.

The meal was preceded - as usual - with a small glass of port.

Sister André had a string of prominent visitors in the morning. They included Geneviève Levy, the local representative in the French Parliament, and Hubert Falco, Toulon's mayor.

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In anticipation of the big day, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, sent the beloved nun a greeting.

Born Lucile Randon on February 11 1904 in Alés, France, she converted to Catholicism at 19-years-old from Protestantism. She served young children and the elderly at a French hospital until she became a nun at the age of 40.

In 1944 she joined the Daughters of Charity, founded by St Vincent de Paul. She took the name Sister Andre in honour of her deceased brother.

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