The Guinness World Records family has suffered a great deal of heartbreaking losses this year.

Over the past 12 months, we have bid farewell to several record holders, and we have been honored to tell you the story of each of them.

We are honoring the record breakers we lost in 2023 as the year draws to a close.

Oldest person living

At the age of 118, Sister André (born Lucile Randon in France on February 11, 1904) passed away in January.

In April 2022, it was verified that she was the oldest living person—a female—and the oldest living person overall.

She was the second-oldest European and French individual ever documented in history.

In addition, Sister André was the oldest nun still alive, having devoted a significant portion of her life to religious service.

Most painful insect sting

The renowned physicist Dr. Justin Schmidt passed away in March at the age of 75.

The American entomologist known as “The King of Sting” bravely conducted study to find out which bug stings the most painfully.

Before producing a comprehensive pain index in 1983, he permitted many species to sting him and recorded his level of agony on a four-point rating system.

Because of his sacrifice, everyone is aware that the bullet ant, with a 4.0+ on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, possesses the most excruciating insect sting.

Most tattooed senior citizen (male)

Charles “Chuck” Helmke (USA), a colorful figure who had held the title of most tattooed senior person (male) in the world since 2016, passed away in March.

He had inkings covering 97.5% of his body.

Chuck died at the age of 81 at his home in Florida, surrounded by his loving children and partner Charlotte Guttenberg.

Oldest drag queen

In March, we also lost the oldest drag queen in the world.

At the age of 92, Walter W. Cole, better known as “Darcelle XV,” passed away from natural causes.

He was a well-liked figure in Portland, Oregon, USA, where he was the happy owner and operator of club Darcelle XV Showplace. He set his record in 2016 at the age of 85 years 273 days.

Fastest time to recite a scene from a play/movie (English)

Paul O’Grady, a legendary British TV broadcaster, died in March at the age of 67.

Paul became well-known as drag queen Lily Savage before assuming the role of presenter for TV series.

On the set of his London show, The New Paul O’Grady Show, many records were established by others, but he himself held one.

On his show in 2007, he recited a scene from 1980s sitcom Hi-de-Hi – a script of 300 words – in 56 seconds – the fastest time to recite a scene from a play/movie (English).

Oldest competitive powerlifter (female)

The world’s oldest competitive powerlifter (female), Edith Murway-Traina, died in March at the age of 101.

The native of the USA had always lived by the maxim “Active, Alert & Agile,” so her loved ones weren’t shocked when she started lifting weights in her nineties.

She had an innate flair for it and started competing right away, becoming well-known in the Florida senior powerlifting world.

Longest running character portrayed by the same actor

Legendary drag queen Barry Humphries, AKA “Dame Edna Everage” died in April at age 89.

The Australian performer first began entertaining audiences as cheeky Dame Edna in 1955 up until her final appearance in 2022, earning the record for longest running character portrayed by the same actor.

Largest collection of Christmas bauble ornaments

April saw the loss of Sylvia Pope, better known as “Nana Baubles”.

The owner of the largest collection of Christmas bauble ornaments, from Swansea, Wales, died at the age of 80.

Sylvia had around 1,760 baubles in her collection and would display them every Christmas, hanging them from every inch of the ceiling.

Longest nose on a living person (male)

Mehmet Özyürek, the proud possessor of the longest nose on a live person (male), passed away in May.

Mehmet, a well-known figure from Turkey, frequently expressed his gratitude for having a record-breaking nose.

The length of a playing card, measured from the bridge to the tip, was 8.8 cm (3.46 in).

Oldest living triplets (mixed)

The oldest living triplet (mixed), Betty Woolf, passed away in June at the age of 96.

In 2020, at the age of 93 years 174 days, Betty set the record with her brother Joseph Hocky and sister Minna Passman.

The siblings celebrated their birthdays together every year even though they had moved to different regions of the nation after their 1927 birth in New York City.

Fastest circumnavigation via both Poles by aeroplane

Famous explorer Hamish Harding was lost in June in the Titan submersible tragedy.

The UK adventurer was 58 years old.

When tragedy happened, he was on board the OceanGate ship with billionaire Shahzada Dawood, his adolescent son Suleman, diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and founder and CEO Stockton Rush.

At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, in 2019, Hamish, along with Captains Jacob Bech (Denmark), Jeremy Ascough (South Africa), Yevgen Vasylenko (Ukraine), and a Qatar Executive, set a record for the fastest aeroplane circumnavigation via both Poles in 46 hours, 40 minutes, and 22 seconds.

Oldest person to release an album of new material

Tony Bennett, the renowned crooner, passed away in July at the age of 96.

After receiving an Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2016, he disclosed his condition to the world a few years later.

Throughout his remarkable career, Tony broke a number of Guinness World Records, most notably becoming the oldest person to record an album of new songs with Lady Gaga’s Love For Sale.

When it was put up for sale, he was 95 years and 58 days old.

Fastest speed by an electric mobility-vehicle (prototype)

Jason Liversidge, who set speed records in his wheelchair, passed away aged just 47 in August.

The UK dad was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in 2013 and was left paralysed from the neck down.

But that didn’t stop him becoming a daredevil with a need for speed.

Among other records, Jason set the fastest speed by an electric mobility-vehicle (prototype) in 2020 after achieving a speed of 66.826 mph (107.546 km/h).

Longest fingernails on a pair of hands ever (female)

In December, we said goodbye to Lee Redmond (USA), who was the long-time holder of the record for longest fingernails on a pair of hands ever (female).

Before she sadly lost them in an automobile accident, Lee’s nails measured a total of 8.65 meters (28 feet 4.5 inches).

She had challenged herself to see how long she could grow her nails before they started to twist, as many well-known long fingernails had done.

Despite the fact that she stopped trimming and filing them in 1979, she gave them such excellent care that they never twisted and instead developed into long, exquisite arches.