“She was told this morning and she said ‘My word, I’m as old as the hills,’ but she was very pleased,” said Rosi Santoni, a sprightly 72-year-old relative who helps care for the old lady. Mrs Morano was not able to come to the phone – she is almost entirely deaf and these days barely watches television. She wakes at 8am and has a little milk and some biscuits for breakfast.

When The Telegraph called she was eating an early lunch of semolina with a boiled egg. She also eats two raw eggs a day, ever since a doctor advised her that it would be good for her health when she was diagnosed with anemia at the age of 20. She has maintained the regime ever since.

Another secret to her longevity, she says, is regularly eating small quantities of minced meat, and having only milk for supper. “Considering her age she is in pretty good health,” said Mrs Santoni. “She does find walking very tiring, though, and she has a nap during the day.”

Her social life is a bit limited these days – not just because her sight and hearing are failing, but because all her contemporaries are dead. “Her friends are all in the cemetery, sadly,” said Mrs Santoni.