'Oldest person' dies aged 114

A NUN considered to be the oldest person in the world died yesterday on the French Caribbean island of St Barts, aged 114.

Eugenie Blanchard had been a patient in the geriatric ward of a hospital since 1980.

Sister Eugenie was born in St Barts on 16 February, 1896, and lived much of her life in a convent in the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao before returning home in the 1950s. She was the last survivor of a family of 13 brothers and sisters.

She had earned the nickname "Sweets" because of how she treated others, said Victorin Lurel, who represents St Barts in France's lower house of parliament, the National Assembly.