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Jeanne Calment
Jeanne Calment
Calment on her 122nd birthday in 1997.
Birth: 21 February 1875
Arles, France
Death: 4 August 1997
Arles, France
Age: 122 years, 164 days
Country: FranceFRA
Validated

Jeanne Louise Calment (21 February 1875 – 4 August 1997) was a French woman who reached the longest confirmed lifespan in history at 122 years, 164 days (44,724 days in total). Her lifespan has been thoroughly documented by scientific study; more records have been produced to verify her age than for any other case. She was the third verified and undisputed person to reach their 115th birthday (after Augusta Holtz and Easter Wiggins), and the first verified and undisputed person to reach 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, and 122. She remains the only person verified to have reached the ages of 120, 121, and 122.

Biography

Jeanne Louise Calment was born at 7:00 AM on 21 February 1875 in Arles, France. Her close family members also lived to an advanced age: her brother, Francois, lived to the age of 97, her father, Nicolas, 92, and her mother, Marguerite, 86.

CalmentBirth

Jeanne Calment's birth record.

In 1896, she married her second cousin (grandson of her great-uncle) Fernand Calment, a wealthy store owner. His wealth made it possible for Calment to never have to work; instead she led a relaxed lifestyle, pursuing hobbies like tennis, cycling, swimming, rollerskating, piano and opera. Her husband died in 1942 after eating a dessert that happened to contain spoiled cherries.

Jeanne and her husband had a daughter, Yvonne (19 January 1898 – 19 January 1934), who died from pneumonia on her 36th birthday. Jeanne outlived her grandson Frederic as well. Frederic Billot (23 December 1926 – 13 August 1963), Yvonne's son, died in an automobile accident. Calment was very healthy for her age.

At the age of 100, Jeanne Calment suffered a fall which broke her ankle, but she learned to walk again and continued living independently. She lived on her own until two weeks before her 110th birthday in 1984. But after a small fire set in her house one day, she reluctantly moved to a nursing home.

Neuropsychologist Karen Ritchie tested Calment for incipient dementia over a number of years, she found that Calment not only didn't suffer from dementia but saw her cognitive abilities improve through the testing.

Following her 122nd birthday, it was announced that Calment would no longer make any public appearances. Calment died on 4 August 1997 in Arles, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, France at the age of 122 years, 164 days.

Recognition

Jeanne Calment was first publically recognized for her longevity when she was 113 years old. She reported that she had seen Vincent van Gogh (who died in 1890) when she was 13 years old. This claim made her appear in the 1990 movie Vincent and Me, where she played herself, and became the oldest person ever to appear in a film.

After the death of Easter Wiggins on 7 July 1990, she became the world's oldest verified living person and she became the oldest verified person ever after surpassing Easter's record later in that year. However, Carrie C. White claimed to have been older than Calment, but her original claim to 116 is disputed, and she may have been 102 years old instead. On 17 October 1995, she surpassed the at-the-time verified age of Shigechiyo Izumi to become the oldest person ever at 120 years, 238 days old. However, Izumi's claim is now disputed.

Gallery

For more pictures, please see: Jeanne Calment/Gallery.

Aged 20 to 108

References

External links


World's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (VE)

Lucy WoodmanNancy MerrimanBetsy BakerJennie HowellMathias Hansen SaetherCatherine WallerChristina Karnebeek-Backs • Robert Early • Nettie MinickMary Kelly • James King • Narcissa Rickman • Tome Horigome • Marie Bernatkova • Haruno ShimadaAda Roe • Kitty Harvey • Josefa Salas Mateo • Alice Stevenson • Ettie Crist • Laurence Entiope • Mito Umeta • Niwa Kawamoto • Alice Coles • Josefa Llovet • Eliza UnderwoodJudia Ward • Nellie Spencer • Emma WilsonAugusta Holtz • Mary McKinney • Anna Eliza Williams • Florence Knapp • Easter Wiggins • Jeanne Calment • Marie-Louise Meilleur • Sarah Knauss • Ella Miller • Marie Bremont • Maud Farris-Luse • Grace Clawson • Adelina Domingues • Mae Harrington • Yukichi Chuganji • Mitoyo Kawate • Ramona Trinidad Iglesias-Jordan • Maria Capovilla • Elizabeth Bolden • Emiliano Mercado del Toro • Emma Tillman • Yone Minagawa • Edna Parker • Maria de Jesus • Gertrude Baines • Kama Chinen • Eugenie Blanchard • Ana Nogueira de LucaMaria Gomes Valentim • Besse Cooper • Dina Manfredini • Jiroemon Kimura • Misao Okawa • Gertrude Weaver • Jeralean Talley • Susannah Mushatt Jones • Emma Morano • Violet BrownNabi Tajima • Chiyo MiyakoKane TanakaLucile RandonMaria Branyas MoreraTomiko Itooka


World's Oldest Living Woman Titleholders (VE)

Nancy MerrimanBetsy BakerJennie HowellCatherine WallerChristina Karnebeek-Backs • Marie Olsen • Mary Kelly • Elizabeth Kensley • Auguste Pahl • Hannah Smith • Yoshigiku Ito • Johanna Booysen • Marie Bernatkova • Haruno ShimadaAda Roe • Josefa Salas Mateo • Alice Stevenson • Elizabeth Watkins • Mito Umeta • Niwa Kawamoto • Sophia DeMuth • Marie-Virginie Duhem • Eliza Underwood • Judia Ward • Nellie Spencer • Emma Wilson • Augusta Holtz • Mary McKinney • Anna Eliza Williams • Florence Knapp • Easter Wiggins • Jeanne Calment • Marie-Louise Meilleur • Sarah Knauss • Ella Miller • Marie Bremont • Maud Farris-Luse • Grace Clawson • Adelina Domingues • Mae Harrington • Mitoyo Kawate • Ramona Trinidad Iglesias-Jordan • Maria Capovilla • Elizabeth Bolden • Julie Winnefred Bertrand • Emma Tillman • Yone Minagawa • Edna Parker • Maria de Jesus • Gertrude Baines • Kama Chinen • Eugenie Blanchard • Maria Gomes Valentim • Besse Cooper • Dina Manfredini • Koto Okubo • Misao Okawa • Gertrude Weaver • Jeralean Talley • Susannah Mushatt Jones • Emma Morano • Violet Brown • Nabi Tajima • Chiyo MiyakoKane TanakaLucile RandonMaria Branyas MoreraTomiko Itooka


Europe's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (VE)

Willem van Renterghem • Marie d'Evergroote • Lavina Hansdatter • Kirsti Skagen • Geert Adriaans Boomgaard • Margaret Ann Neve • Karen BrodbaekSophia Wijnberg • Agnete Olsdatter • Honor Coleman • Sophie Lacomte • Maria Vleminckx • Johanna Berns • Matthias Dodenhoff • Sarah Gardiner • Elisabeth Jensen • Britta Njeldsdatter • Frederick Stabbins • Jane Lister • Martha Truelove • Ann Sharp • Gertrud Kubbeler • Marie Delfairiere • Frances Smith • Katherine Plunket • Eliza Roff • Maria Montemurro • Ellen Palmer • Rachel MacArthur • Anne Marie SkauRachel Swain • Wilhelmine Olschewski • Mary Davey • Francesco Cubadda • Thomas Pope • John Francklow • Rebecca Lees • Sarah Fitt • Johanna Johansson • Elizabeth Sellwood • Petronella Braams • Matilda Coppins • Elizabeth Whitehead • Karl Glockner • Sarah Humphrey • Maria Johansson • Michelina Macchia • Caroline Beale • Josephine Marchal • Luise Rissmann • Christina Karnebeek-Backs • Marie Olsen • Willem Kostering • Ella Ille Rentel • Lovisa Svensson • Ellen Dart • Elizabeth Kensley • Auguste Pahl • Hannah Smith • John Mosley Turner • Marie Bernatkova • Ada Roe • Josefa Salas Mateo • Alice Stevenson • Frederick Butterfield • Rose Heeley • Marie-Virginie Duhem • Josefa Llovet • Florence PannellAugustine Tessier • Jeanetta Thomas • Alice Brewster • Petronella Ribbens-Verstallen • Anna Eliza Williams • Jeanne Calment • Lucy Askew • Annie Jennings • Eva Morris • Marie Bremont • Amy Hulmes • Germaine Haye • Teresa Fumarola • Joan Riudavets Moll • Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper • Virginia Dighero-Zolezzi • Camille Loiseau • Maria de Jesus • Manuela Fernandez-Fojaco • Lucia Lauria • Florrie Baldwin • Venere Pizzinato-Papo • Marcelle Narbonne • Marie-Therese Bardet • Maria Redaelli • Emma Morano • Ana Vela Rubio • Giuseppina Projetto • Maria Giuseppa Robucci • Lucile RandonMaria Branyas MoreraEthel Caterham


France's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (V • TE)

Marie LangloisRose SardaCalixte RazimbaudCatherine MoucheAuguste DecateDesiree DeloryFerdinise Nebolle • Georgette JeanmaireEugenie MarchandEugenie ProuxEmilie CoqueranLaurence EntiopeMarie-Ernestine Compain • Marie-Virginie Duhem • Frederique Noel • Augustine Tessier • Elisa Esnault • Elvire Mendiboure • Eugenie Roux • Jeanne Calment • Marie-Helene Chanteperdrix • Jeanne Dumaine • Marie Bremont • Germaine Haye • Anne Primout • Camille Loiseau • Marie-Simone Capony • Clementine Solignac • Eugenie Blanchard • Maria Diaz • Marcelle Narbonne • Marie-Therese Bardet • Paule Bronzini • Irenise Moulonguet • Suzanne Burrier • Marie Liguinen • Olympe Amaury • Eudoxie Baboul • Elisabeth Collot • Honorine Rondello • Lucile RandonMarie-Rose Tessier

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