Jeanne Calment

Jeanne Calment was born on February 21, 1875, in Arles, Bouches-du- Rhône, Southern France, to Nicolas Calment and Marguerite Gilles. She grew up with an older brother named François. Her father worked as a shipbuilder, and her mother belonged to a family of millers.

All of Jeanne’s family members lived long, although none of them lived as long as her. Her brother died at the age of 97, while her mother and father lived up to the ages of 86 and 93, respectively.

At the age of 7, Jeanne was enrolled at the ‘Madame Benet’s Church Primary School’ in her hometown. She stayed in the same school until her first holy communion. She later attended the local college until she turned 16, and following that, she spent most of her time painting and playing the piano. She awaited her marriage and lived with her parents during this time, with nothing much to do.

In April 1896, at the age of 21, she married her double second cousin Fernand Nicolas Calment. The couple’s paternal grandfathers were brothers and their grandmothers were sisters. Fernand was a rich man, and he owned a shop in Southern France that ran successfully. Jeanne spent almost 90 years in the house above the shop.

The business thrived initially. Jeanne did not have to earn a penny. Jeanne belonged to a lower middle-class family but was introduced to the upper-class society of Paris after her marriage and enjoyed it to the fullest. She spent most of her time cycling, swimming, camping, painting, and playing the piano, while her husband worked to make money.

During the summer holidays, the couple would go to Uriage to spend some time away from their busy lives. There, Jeanne accompanied her husband on his hunting expeditions. In 1898, the couple had a daughter named Yvonne Marie Nicolle Calment. Yvonne died at the age of 36 after a battle with pneumonia.

Jeanne claimed several times that she had had a very happy married life and that the lack of stress in her life could have been one of the secrets behind her long life. She also stated that since she was a child, she was never too stressed about anything and scarcely fell ill.

However, she once fell ill during the Second World War. It was 1942, and the war had already reached Southern France. She and her husband accidentally ate some poisoned cherries. She ate little and thus survived, but her husband fell severely ill the following day and passed away soon, at the age of 73.

A year after she moved into the nursing home, Jeanne had already become the oldest-living person in the world. She was 111 years old at that time, and the former oldest person, Eugenie Roux, had just died. Jeanne met international fame in 1988, when it became common knowledge that the great painter Vincent van Gogh had visited her uncle’s shop in 1888 and had met Jeanne, who was 13 years old at that time.

Vincent had visited the shop to buy some canvas for his paintings. Jeanne claimed that he was an ugly alcoholic man who frequented brothels very often.

Before January 11, 1988, Florence Knapp was the oldest person alive. After her demise, Jeanne replaced her. At the age of 112 years, Jeanne was included in the ‘The Guinness Book of Records.’ However, several reports continued to claim that there were people who were older than Jeanne. None of those reports were verified.

On October 17, 1995, at the age of 120 years and 238 days, Jeanne officially became the oldest person to have ever lived.