the oldest lady
Maria Gomes Valentim, 114, lies on her bed in Carangola May 19, 2011. A Brazilian great-great grandmother, Valentim, is the world's oldest living person at the age of 114 and 313 days Reuters

Maria Gomes Valentim lived in three separate centuries and two millennia.

The Brazilian was born in 1896 in Carangola, Brazil, where she lived her whole life. She was the country's first recorded supercentenarian, which means person older than 110.There are less than 90 such people alive today.

She died of pneumonia, the Gerontology Research Group reported, just weeks from her 115th birthday.

Valentim is survived by her son, four grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren, according to Guinness.

Besse Cooper of Georgia has taken over the title of world's oldest person. She is also 114 years old, but a few months younger than Valenim.

The oldest recorded person to have ever lived was France's Jeanne Louise Calment, who passed at 122 in 1997.