Jeanne Calment
Jeanne Louise Calment | |
|---|---|
| File:Jeanne-Calment-1996.jpg Calment celebrating her 121st birthday in 1996 | |
| Born | 21 February 1875 |
| Died | 4 August 1997 (aged 122 years, 164 days) |
| Known for | Longest confirmed lifespan since October 17, 1995 Oldest living person (February 14, 1991 – August 4, 1997) |
| Spouse(s) | Fernand Calment (lived: 1868–1942, married: 1896–1942 |
Jeanne Louise Calment (French pronunciation: [ʒan lwiz kalmɑ̃]; 21 February 1875 – 4 August 1997, 10:45 CET)[1] had the longest confirmed human life span in history, living 122 years and 164 days (44,724 days total).[2] She lived in Arles, France, for her entire life, and outlived both her daughter and grandson. She became especially well known from the age of 113, when the centenary of Vincent van Gogh's visit brought reporters to Arles. She entered the Guinness Book of Records in 1988, and on 17 October 1995 she became—and currently remains—the oldest person ever, having surpassed the (now dubious) case of Shigechiyo Izumi of Japan. She became the last living documented person born in the 1870s when the Japanese supercentenarian Tane Ikai (born 1879) died on 12 July 1995. Her life span has been thoroughly documented by scientific study, with more records having been produced to verify her age than for any other case.[3]
Biography
Calment was born in Arles and lived there for all of her life.[1] Her father, Nicolas, was a shipbuilder, and her mother, Marguerite, was from a family of millers. Her close family members also lived to an advanced age: her older brother, François, lived to the age of 97, her father to 93, and her mother to 86. Calment claimed to have met Vincent van Gogh, whom she said had come to her uncle's shop to buy paint, in 1888. Calment would remember him as "dirty, badly dressed, and disagreeable".[4][5] In 1896, at the age of 21, she married her second cousin (grandson of her great-uncle) Fernand Calment,[3] a wealthy store owner. His wealth made it possible for Jeanne to never have to work; instead she led a leisured lifestyle, pursuing hobbies like tennis, cycling, swimming, rollerskating, piano and opera.[1] Her husband died in 1942 at the age of around 73 or 74 after eating a dessert prepared with spoiled cherries.[6] Their only child, a daughter named Yvonne, was born in 1898 and produced a grandson, Frédéric, born in 1926.[3] Calment outlived Yvonne, who died at age 36 in 1934 from pneumonia. Frédéric became a doctor, and she outlived him as well, as he died in 1963 in a motorcycle accident, also at the age of 36.[7] In 1965, aged 90 years and with no heirs, Calment signed a deal to sell her former apartment to lawyer André-François Raffray, on a contingency contract. Raffray, then aged 47 years, agreed to pay her a monthly sum of 2,500 francs until she died. Raffray ended up paying Calment the equivalent of more than $180,000, which was more than double the apartment's value. After Raffray's death from cancer at the age of 77, in 1995, his widow continued the payments until Calment's death.[1]
Recognition
In 1985, Calment moved into a nursing home, having lived on her own until age 110.[1] Her international fame escalated in 1988, when the centenary of Vincent van Gogh's visit to Arles provided an occasion to meet reporters. She said at the time that she had met Van Gogh 100 years before (though this is contested), in 1888, as a thirteen-year-old girl in her uncle's fabric shop, where he wanted to buy some canvas, later describing him as "dirty, badly dressed and disagreeable", and "very ugly, ungracious, impolite, sick".[1][7] Calment recalled selling coloured pencils to Van Gogh, and seeing the Eiffel Tower being built.[8] At the age of 114, she appeared briefly in the 1990 film Vincent and Me as herself, making her the oldest actress ever.[citation needed]
A documentary film about her life, entitled Beyond 120 Years with Jeanne Calment, was released on 17 November 1995.[9] On 19 February 1996, just two days before her 121st birthday, Musidisc released Time's Mistress, a four-track CD of Calment speaking over a background of rap and hip hop.[10] On her 122nd birthday on 21 February 1997, it was announced that she would make no more public appearances, as her health had seriously deteriorated. She died on 4 August of that same year.[9]
More than 13 years after her death, Calment still holds the record as the oldest human ever and cannot be surpassed until the year 2018, at least.
Record breaking
After her 1988 interview, at age 113, Calment was given the Guinness title "world's oldest living person". 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.[11] On White's death on 14 February 1991, Calment, then a week shy of 116, became the oldest recognized living person.[12] On 17 October 1995 Calment reached 120 years and 238 days to become the "oldest person ever" according to Guinness, surpassing Shigechiyo Izumi of Japan, whose own claim (120 years 237 days old at the time of his death on 21 February 1986, Calment's 111th birthday) has also been subject to considerable doubt.[9] If the cases of Shigechiyo Izumi and Carrie White are discounted, Calment is the first person documented to reach 115 years of age. She is also the only person to have undisputedly lived for 120 years (and beyond).
Furthermore (if discounting the previously mentioned Shigechiyo Izumi and Carrie C. White) Calment also holds the record for being the oldest living person for the longest period of time, by far - with nearly nine years and seven months, counting from the death of Florence Knapp on January 11, 1988, to her own death on August 4 1997.
Calment broke the record for longest confirmed lifespan (previously held by Anna Eliza Williams, who died at age 114 years 208 days, in 1987) by nearly eight years. Breaking a previous record for age by that amount was, in itself, a record. Before Calment, the only person who had surpassed a former longest confirmed lifespan with more than one year, was Delina Filkins who became the first 113-year-old in 1928. Filkins surpassed the by then longest confirmed lifespan with just over two years.
Following Calment's death on 4 August 1997, then 116-year-old Marie-Louise Meilleur became the oldest living recognized person.[12] As well as being the world's oldest person and the last living person to have met Vincent van Gogh, she was the world's last documented living link with the 1870s.[9]
Longevity records
- On 20 June 1986, Eugénie Roux died, and Calment, 111 years 119 days, became the Doyenne de France
- On 17 September 1989, Calment, 114 years 209 days,surpassed Anna Eliza Williams as the oldest undisputed person ever
- On 21 February 1990, Calment became the first undisputed person documented to reach age 115
- On 14 February 1991, Carrie.C. White died, and Calment, 115 years, 358 days, became the oldest living person
- On 12 July 1995, Tane Ikai died, and Calment became the last living link from 1870s
- On 4 August 1997, Calment died, aged 122 years 164 days, and Marie-Louise Meilleur became the oldest living person
Health and lifestyle
Calment's remarkable health presaged her later record. At age 85, she took up fencing, and at 100, she was still riding a bicycle. She was reportedly neither athletic, nor fanatical about her health.[8] Calment lived on her own until shortly before her 110th birthday, when it was decided that she needed to be moved to a nursing home after a cooking accident (she was having complications with sight) started a small fire in her flat. However, Calment was still in good shape, and was able to walk until she fractured her femur during a fall at age 114 years and 11 months, which required surgery.[3][11] After her operation, Calment needed to use a wheelchair. She weighed 45 kilograms (99 lb) in 1994.[13] Calment became ill with influenza shortly before her 116th birthday.[14] She smoked until the age of 117, only five years before her death.[1][14] Calment smoked from the age of 21 (1896), though according to an unspecified source, she smoked no more than two cigarettes per day.[15]
She ascribed her longevity and relatively youthful appearance for her age to olive oil, which she said she poured on all her food and rubbed onto her skin, as well as a diet of port wine, and ate nearly one kilo of chocolate every week.[10]
See also
- Ageing
- Supercentenarian
- Notable historical events of 1875
- List of French supercentenarians
- List of the verified oldest people
- Longevity claims
- Longevity traditions
- Maximum life span
- Senescence
- Arles
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Whitney, Craig R. (5 August 1997). "Jeanne Calment, World's Elder, Dies at 122". New York Times. Retrieved 4 August 2008.
- ^ The Guinness Book of Records, 1999 edition, p.102, ISBN 0-85112-070-9.
- ^ a b c d "Validation of Exceptional Longevity — Jeanne Calment: Validation of the Duration of Her Life". Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. Retrieved 4 August 2008.
- ^ http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VqEgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7GgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6026%2C3313956
- ^ http://www.wilsonsalmanac/book/fed21.html
- ^ "MILESTONES". Time. 18 August 1997. Retrieved 4 August 2008.
- ^ a b "World's oldest person dies at 122". CNN. 4 August 1997. Retrieved 4 August 2008.
- ^ a b "World's oldest person marks 120 beautiful, happy years". News.google.com. 21 February 1995. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
- ^ a b c d "Tribute to Jeanne Calment, memorial — Lasting tribute". Lasting Tribute. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
- ^ a b "Believed to be world's oldest, woman in France dies at 122". Houston Chronicle. 4 August 1997. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
- ^ a b Addy, Ronda (25 May 2008). "Life expectancy". Sun Journal. Retrieved 6 August 2008. Cite error: The named reference "SunJournal" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b "The Oldest Human Beings". Recordholders.org. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- ^ http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ju8VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1xMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4055,2921498
- ^ a b http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pjwVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fQgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3866,490488
- ^ [1]|An Exceptional Case of Human Longevity, Jeanne Calment, Gerontological Society of America, New Orleans, (23 Nov. 1993)|
Further reading
- Allard, Michel (1998). Jeanne Calment: From Van Gogh's Time to Ours : 122 Extraordinary Years. New York: W.H. Freeman. ISBN 0-7167-3251-3.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Robine, Jean-Marie (1999). Jeune, Bernard; Vaupel, James W. (eds) (ed.). Jeanne Calment: Validation of the Duration of Her Life. Validation of Exceptional Longevity. Odense University Press. ISBN 87-7838-466-4.
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External links
