--- title: World's Oldest Person: Meet the New Contender description: When Susannah Mushatt Jones died Thursday, someone new took her place as the world's oldest person. That person is Emma Morano, who is 116. canonical: https://time.com/4329257/new-world-oldest-person-italy-emma-morano/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-13T14:30:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:32:04.573Z article:section: World og:title: Meet the World's Unofficial New Oldest Person og:description: Her secrets? Raw eggs and no husband og:url: https://time.com/4329257/new-world-oldest-person-italy-emma-morano/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc008dd7045dd580a/698893100b72e340fb6e95de/emma-morano-worlds-oldest-person-116.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Italian woman becomes world's oldest person og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meet the World's Unofficial New Oldest Person twitter:description: Her secrets? Raw eggs and no husband twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc008dd7045dd580a/698893100b72e340fb6e95de/emma-morano-worlds-oldest-person-116.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Meet the World's Unofficial New Oldest Person  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson May 13, 2016 2:30 PM CUT  Emma Morano, 116, sits in her apartment nex to a picture depicting her where she was young in Verbania, northern Italy, May 13 2016. Emma Morano, 116, sits in her apartment nex to a picture depicting her where she was young in Verbania, northern Italy, May 13 2016.Antonino di Marco—EPA  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson May 13, 2016 2:30 PM CUT When [Susannah Mushatt Jones](http://time.com/4329079/susannah-mushatt-jones-oldest-person-dies/?xid=tcoshare "undefined") died Thursday evening, someone new took her place as the world’s oldest person. And it looks like that person is Emma Morano, who is 116 years old. Robert Young, a senior consultant for the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group, [informed the Associated Press](http://www.bigstory.ap.org/article/21557874f0a143a3a3d26de2ba609506/worlds-oldest-person-dies-new-york-age-116 "undefined") of Jones’s death and said that Morano is now the unofficial oldest person in the world. Reached by TIME Friday, a Guinness World Records spokesperson said the group is beginning to review research and will make an official announcement “in the coming weeks.” [According to the New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/world/raw-eggs-and-no-husband-since-38-keep-her-young-at-115.html "undefined"), which profiled Morano in 2015 when she was 115 years old, her secret to longevity is twofold: raw eggs and no husband. She’s been eating three raw eggs per day since she was a teenager, and as for being single for most of her life: “I didn’t want to be dominated by anyone,” she said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4329257/new-world-oldest-person-italy-emma-morano/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4329257/new-world-oldest-person-italy-emma-morano/"},"headline":"Meet the World's Unofficial New Oldest Person","datePublished":"2016-05-13T14:30:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:32:04.573Z","description":"Her secrets? Raw eggs and no husband","url":"https://time.com/4329257/new-world-oldest-person-italy-emma-morano/","keywords":["Aging","Italy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc008dd7045dd580a/698893100b72e340fb6e95de/emma-morano-worlds-oldest-person-116.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc008dd7045dd580a/698893100b72e340fb6e95de/emma-morano-worlds-oldest-person-116.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Italian woman becomes world's oldest person","caption":"Emma Morano, 116, sits in her apartment nex to a picture depicting her where she was young in Verbania, northern Italy, May 13 2016.","creditText":"Antonino di Marco—EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4329257/new-world-oldest-person-italy-emma-morano/","name":"Meet the World's Unofficial New Oldest Person"}}]}] ```