Jeanne Louise Calment (February 21, 1875 – August 4, 1997) reached the longest confirmed lifespan in history at 122 years and 164 days. Her lifespan has been thoroughly documented by scientific study; more records have been produced to verify her age than for any other case. Image File history File links JCalment_001. ... is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Coordinates Administration Country France Region Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur Department Bouches-du-Rhône (Subprefecture) Arrondissement Arles Canton Chief town of 2 cantons: Arles-Est and Arles-Ouest Intercommunality Agglomeration community of Arles-Crau-Camargue-Montagnette Mayor Hervé Schiavetti  (PS) (2001-2008) Statistics Altitude 0 m–57 m... is the 216th day of the year (217th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Coordinates Administration Country France Region Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur Department Bouches-du-Rhône (Subprefecture) Arrondissement Arles Canton Chief town of 2 cantons: Arles-Est and Arles-Ouest Intercommunality Agglomeration community of Arles-Crau-Camargue-Montagnette Mayor Hervé Schiavetti  (PS) (2001-2008) Statistics Altitude 0 m–57 m... is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... is the 216th day of the year (217th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar). ... Supercentenarian Ann Pouder photographed by Charles Martin on her 110th birthday. ...

Biography

Born in Arles, France, to a well-to-do family, her close family members also lived to an advanced age: her brother, François, lived to the age of 97, her father, Nicolas, 93, and her mother, Marguerite, 86. In 1896, she married her second cousin (grandson of her great-uncle) Fernand Calment, a wealthy storeowner. His wealth made it possible for Calment never to 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 he ate a dessert prepared with spoiled cherries. Coordinates Administration Country France Region Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur Department Bouches-du-Rhône (Subprefecture) Arrondissement Arles Canton Chief town of 2 cantons: Arles-Est and Arles-Ouest Intercommunality Agglomeration community of Arles-Crau-Camargue-Montagnette Mayor Hervé Schiavetti  (PS) (2001-2008) Statistics Altitude 0 m–57 m... Year 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar). ... The term cousin typically refers to the child of ones parents sibling. ...

Calment's longevity was not shared by her offspring. Her only daughter, Yvonne, died at age 36 in 1934 from pneumonia. As a result, the task of bringing up her grandson Frédéric fell on her shoulders. He became a doctor, but died in 1963 in a motorcycle accident. Pneumonia is an illness of the lungs and respiratory system in which the alveoli (microscopic air-filled sacs of the lung responsible for absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere) become inflamed and flooded with fluid. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 1965, aged 90, with no living heirs, Jeanne Calment signed a deal, common in France, to sell her condominium apartment en viager to lawyer François Raffray. Raffray, then aged 47, agreed to pay a monthly sum until she died, an agreement sometimes called a "reverse mortgage". At the time of the deal the value of the apartment was equal to ten years of payments. Unfortunately for Raffray, not only did Calment survive more than thirty years, but Raffray died of cancer in December 1995, at the age of 77, leaving his widow to continue the payments. Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... This article refers to a form of housing. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Recognition

In 1985, Calment moved into a nursing home, having lived on her own until age 110. Nevertheless, she did not gain international fame until 1988, when the centenary of Vincent van Gogh's visit to Arles provided an occasion to meet reporters. She said that at age 14, she met van Gogh in her father's shop, later describing him as "dirty, badly dressed and disagreeable." She also reported attending the 1885 funeral of Victor Hugo. Year 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... A centenary is an event to celebrate the 100th anniversary of an event. ... Vincent Willem van Gogh (sometimes erroneously pronounced [ˈvɪnsənt væn ˈɡɒf] or [ˈvɪnsənt vɑn ˈɡɔx] in British English and [ˈvɪnsənt væn ˈɡoʊ] in US English; the correct Dutch pronunciation is ) (30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist artist. ... 1885 (MDCCCLXXXV) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Victor-Marie Hugo (pronounced in French) (26 February 1802 — 22 May 1885) was a French poet, novelist, playwright, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights campaigner, and perhaps the most influential exponent of the Romantic movement in France. ...

At the age of 114, she appeared briefly in the film Vincent and Me as herself, making her the oldest actress ever. A French documentary film about her life, entitled Beyond 120 Years with Jeanne Calment, was released in 1995. In 1996, the nursing home where she lived released a CD entitled Time's Mistress. It featured her reminiscing, set to rap and other tunes. She was also a smoker and only quit when she was 117 years old. [1] Her fondness for sweets, like chocolate, also continued until the age of 119. She was the last recognized surviving person of the 1870s. Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to document reality. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... A Compact Disc or CD is an optical disc used to store digital data, originally developed for storing digital audio. ... Hip hop music is a style of music which came into existence in the United States during the mid-1970s, and became a large part of modern pop culture during the 1980s. ... // The invention of the telephone (1876) by Alexander Graham Bell. ...

Assignment of record

After her 1988 interview, at age 113, Calment was given the Guinness Records' "world's oldest person" title. She was first mentioned in the Guinness Records publication of 1989, in new claims at the end. However, in 1989 the title was withdrawn and given to Carrie C. White of Florida, who was claimed to have been born in 1874, although this has been disputed by subsequent census research. Suresh Joachim, minutes away from breaking the ironing world record at 55 hours and 5 minutes, at Shoppers World, Brampton. ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... Carrie C. White, née Joyner (November 18, 1874? – February 14, 1991), was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest person in the world around the time she celebrated her 114th birthday in 1988. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Largest metro area Miami Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,795[1] sq mi (170,304[1] km²)  - Width 361 miles (582 km)  - Length 447 miles (721 km)  - % water 17. ... Year 1874 (MDCCCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link with display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

On the death of White on February 14, 1991, Calment, then a week shy of 116, became the oldest recognized living person. On October 17, 1995 Calment reached 120 years and 238 days to become the Guinness "oldest person ever", surpassing Shigechiyo Izumi of Japan, whose own claim has since also been subject to some doubt. Coincidentally, Izumi died on Calment's 111th birthday. Insert non-formatted text here{| style=float:right; |- | paul is so hot sophie loves him |- | |} is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 290th day of the year (291st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... Shigechiyo Izumi (Japanese: 泉 重千代 Izumi Shigechiyo, June 29, 1865 or 1880 – February 21, 1986) of Tokunoshima, Amami Islands, Japan was, according to Guinness World Records, the person with the greatest authenticated age in the world after the death of Niwa Kawamoto, also from Japan. ...

If the questionable cases of Shigechiyo Izumi and Carrie White are discounted, Calment is the first person documented to reach 115, 116, 117, 118, and 119 years old. She is also the only person to have undisputedly lived at least 120 years.

Following Calment's death on August 4, 1997, then almost 117-year-old Marie-Louise Meilleur of Canada became the oldest recognized person in the world. is the 216th day of the year (217th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar). ... Marie-Louise Fébronie Chassé Meilleur (August 29, 1880 – April 16, 1998) was the French-Canadian who, upon the death of Jeanne Calment, became the oldest recognized person in the world. ...

Health status

Jeanne Calment's remarkable health presaged her later record. At age 85, she took up fencing. At 100, she was still riding a bicycle. Jeanne lived on her own until shortly before her 110th birthday, when her cooking caused an accidental fire in her apartment and it was decided that she needed to be moved to a nursing home. However, Jeanne was still in good shape, and was able to walk until a fall at age 114 years and 11 months. Jeanne survived a hip operation in January 1990 to become the oldest verified surgery patient. Although she needed to use a wheelchair afterward, Jeanne remained talkative and received frequent visitors until her 122nd birthday, at which time it was finally decided that her health status had declined and warranted privacy. Indeed, it was said by Jean-Marie Robine that this "allowed her to die", because the attention had kept her going. Jeanne Calment died five months later. She reportedly attributed her longevity and relatively youthful appearance (for her age) to olive oil, which she said she poured on all her food and rubbed into her skin. [2] Fencing advertisement for the 1900 Summer Olympic Games This article is about the sport, which is distinguished from stage fencing and academic fencing (mensur). ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Olive oil is a fruit oil obtained from the olive (Olea europaea), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. ...

Quotes

(see Robine book mentioned in the "References" section for citations)

• "J'ai été oubliée par le Bon Dieu!" ("I have been forgotten by the Good Lord!")
• "I took pleasure when I could. I acted clearly and morally and without regret. I'm very lucky."
• "I've only got one wrinkle, and I'm sitting on it."
• "Wine, I'm in love with that."
• "A very short one." When asked on her 120th birthday what kind of future she would expect to have.
• "Ha, I was over the hill a hundred years ago"

See also

• Ageing
• Lifespan
• List of the oldest people
• Longevity claims (for information on competing, but unsuccessfully verified claims of longevity)
• Longevity myths (for information on far-fetched claims of longevity)
• Oldest people
• Senescence
• Supercentenarian

The effects of ageing on a human face Elderly woman Ageing or aging is the process of systems deterioration with time. ... Lifespan is the maximum number of years a species can survive, defined by the oldest documented age of an individual member. ... This is a list of the top one hundred oldest verified people in world history. ... Longevity claims are claims to extreme longevity (usually 110 or older) that either cannot be verified or for whom only some evidence is available. ... Longevity myths are claims to extreme longevity that are of dubious reliability, or even subsequently disproven. ... Supercentenarian Ann Pouder photographed by Charles Martin on her 110th birthday. ... It has been suggested that Longevity genes be merged into this article or section. ... A supercentenarian (sometimes hyphenated as super-centenarian) is someone who has reached the age of 110 years or more, something achieved by only one in a thousand centenarians (0. ...

References

• Allard, Michel. 1998. Jeanne Calment: from Van Gogh's time to ours, 122 extraordinary years. New York: WH Freeman. ISBN 0-7167-3251-3.
• Robine, Jean-Marie and Allard, Michel. 1999. "Jeanne Calment: Validation of the Duration of Her Life", in Validation of Exceptional Longevity, Bernard Jeune and James W. Vaupel, eds. Odense University Press. ISBN 87-7838-466-4
• Whitney, Craig. August 5, 1997. Jeanne Calment, World's Elder, Dies at 122. The New York Times.

is the 217th day of the year (218th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar). ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. ...

External links

• Her lifespan
• Oldest person in the world turned 122 on February 21, 1997
• Jeanne Calment at the Internet Movie Database