Quelltext der Seite Jeanne Calment

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{{short description|French supercentenarian with the longest documented human lifespan in history}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2019}}

{{Infobox person
|name          = Jeanne Calment
|image         = Jeanne-Calment-1996.jpg
|caption       = Calment celebrating her 121st birthday on 21 February 1996 (one year before her death)
|birth_name    = Jeanne Louise Calment
|birth_date    = {{birth date|1875|02|21|df=yes}}
|birth_place   = [[Arles]], France
|death_date    = {{death-date|4 August 1997}}<br/>(aged {{age in years and days|1875|02|21|1997|08|04}})
|death_place   = Arles, France
|spouse        = {{marriage|Fernand Calment|8 April 1896|October 2, 1942|end=d}}
|children      = 1
|known_for     = {{ubl|Longest documented human lifespan – since 12 May 1990|Oldest living person (11 January 1988 – 4 August 1997)}}
}}
'''Jeanne Louise Calment''' ({{IPA-fr|ʒan lwiz kalmɑ̃|lang|LL-Q150 (fra)-Exilexi-Jeanne Calment.wav}}; 21 February 1875 {{endash}} 4 August 1997) was a French [[supercentenarian]] and the [[oldest people|oldest human]] whose age is well-documented, with a lifespan of 122 years and 164 days.<ref name=NYTimesDeath /> Her longevity attracted media attention and medical studies of her health and lifestyle.

According to census records, Calment outlived both her daughter and grandson.<ref name=validation /> In January 1988, at age 112, she was widely reported to have been the oldest living person, and in 1995, at age 120, was declared the oldest person to have ever lived.<ref name=SunJournal />

== Early life ==
[[File:Acte de naissance de Jeanne Calment.png|thumb|right|upright=1.14|[[Birth certificate]] of Jeanne Calment]]

Jeanne Louise Calment was born on 21 February 1875 in [[Arles]], [[Bouches-du-Rhône]], [[Provence]].<ref name=NYTimesDeath>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/05/world/jeanne-calment-world-s-elder-dies-at-122.html |title=Jeanne Calment, World's Elder, Dies at 122 |first=Craig R. |last=Whitney |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=5 August 1997 |access-date=4 February 2021}}</ref> Her father, Nicolas Calment (8 November 1837&nbsp;– 28 January 1931), was a [[shipbuilding|shipbuilder]], and her mother, Marguerite Gilles (20 February 1838&nbsp;– 18 September 1924), was from a family of [[miller]]s. She had an older brother, François (25 April 1865 – 1 December 1962). Some of her close family members also lived an above-average lifespan: her brother lived to the age of 97, her father to 93, and her mother to 86.<ref name=validation />

From the age of seven until her [[first communion]], she attended Mrs Benet's church primary school in Arles, and then the local ''collège'' ([[secondary school]]), finishing at 16 with the ''brevet classique'' diploma ([[O-level]]). Asked about her daily routine while at [[primary school]], she replied that "when you are young, you get up at eight o'clock". In lieu of a solid breakfast, she would have either coffee with milk, or hot chocolate, and at noon her father would pick her up from school to have lunch at home before she returned to school for the afternoon. In the following years, she continued to live with her parents, awaiting marriage, painting, and improving her piano skills.<ref name=Allard1998>{{cite book |first1=Michel |last1=Allard |first2=Victor |last2=Lèbre |first3=Jean-Marie |last3=Robine |first4=Jeanne |last4=Calment |year=1998 |title=Jeanne Calment: From Van Gogh's Time to Ours, 122 Extraordinary Years |publisher=[[W.H. Freeman]] |isbn=978-0-7167-3251-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/jeannecalmentfro00alla }}</ref>{{rp|27–32}}

== Personal life ==
[[File:Jeanne Calment age 20.jpg|thumb|Calment at age 20 in 1895]]

[[File:MmeCalment1945.png|thumb|upright|Calment at age 70 in 1945]]

On 8 April 1896, at the age of 21, she married her [[double cousin|double second cousin]], Fernand Nicolas Calment (1868–1942). Their paternal grandfathers were brothers, and their paternal grandmothers were sisters.<ref name=validation>{{cite book |title=Validation of Exceptional Longevity |chapter=Jeanne Calment: Validation of the Duration of Her Life |first1=Jean-Marie |last1=Robine |first2=Michel |last2=Allard |chapter-url=http://www.demogr.mpg.de/books/odense/6/09.htm |url=https://www.demogr.mpg.de/books/odense/6/default.htm |publisher=[[Odense University Press]] |editor-first1=Bernard |editor-last1=Jeune |editor-first2=James W. |editor-last2=Vaupel |isbn=87-7838-466-4 |via=[[Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research]] |year=1999 |access-date=9 January 2018}}</ref> He had reportedly started courting her when she was 15, but she was "too young to be interested in boys".<ref name=Garoyan1990 />{{rp|4–21}} Fernand was heir to a drapery business located in a classic Provençal-style building in the center of [[Arles]], and the couple moved into a spacious apartment above the family store.<ref name=validation /> Calment employed servants and never had to work; she led a leisurely lifestyle within the upper society of Arles, pursuing hobbies such as fencing, cycling, tennis, swimming, rollerskating ("I fell flat on my face"), playing the piano and making music with friends.<ref name=Garoyan1990 />{{rp|4–21}} In the summer, the couple would stay at [[Uriage]] for mountaineering on the glacier. ("Even at 16, I had good legs.") They also went hunting for rabbits and [[wild boar]]s in the hills of Provence, using an "18mm rifle". Calment said she disliked shooting birds.<ref name=Garoyan1990>{{cite book |last=Garoyan |first=Georges |year=1990 |title=Cent-quatorze ans de vie ou la longue histoire de Jeanne Calment, doyenne d'âge de France |language=fr |trans-title=One hundred and fourteen years of life, or the long history of Jeanne Calment, France's oldest person |location=Marseille |publisher=[[Université d'Aix-Marseille II]]}}</ref>{{rp|4–21}} She gave birth to her only child, a daughter named Yvonne Marie Nicolle Calment, on 19 January 1898. Yvonne married army officer Joseph Billot on 3 February 1926, and their only son, Frédéric, was born on 23 December of the same year.<ref name=validation /> At the outbreak of [[World War I]], her husband Fernand, who was 46, was deemed too old to serve in the military.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Whitney |first1=Craig R. |title=Jeanne Calment, World's Elder, Dies at 122 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/05/world/jeanne-calment-world-s-elder-dies-at-122.html |access-date=7 March 2021 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=5 August 1997}}</ref>

Yvonne Calment died of [[pleurisy]] on 19 January 1934, her 36th birthday,<ref name=France-Soir>{{cite news |title=La longévité de Jeanne Calment mise en doute par des scientifiques russes |url=http://www.francesoir.fr/actualites-france/la-longevite-de-jeanne-calment-mise-en-doute-par-des-scientifiques-russes |language=fr |trans-title=Russian scientists cast doubts on Jeanne Calment's longevity |newspaper=[[France Soir]] |agency=[[Agence France Presse]] |first=Victoria |last=Loguinova-Yakovleva |date=31 December 2018}}</ref><ref name=France-Inter /> after which Calment raised Frédéric, although he lived with his father in the neighbouring apartment.<ref name=CNN>{{cite news |title=World's oldest person dies at 122 |url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9708/04/obit.oldest/ |publisher=[[CNN]] |agency=[[Reuters]] |date=4 August 1997 |access-date=4 August 2008}}</ref> [[World War II]] had little effect on Jeanne's life. She said that German soldiers slept in her rooms but "did not take anything away", so that she bore no grudge against them. In 1942, her husband Fernand died, aged 73, reportedly of cherry poisoning.<ref name=Garoyan1990 />{{rp|4–21}} By the 1954 census, she was still registered in the same apartment, together with her son-in-law, retired Colonel Billot, Yvonne's widower; the census documents list Jeanne as "mother" in 1954 and "widow" in 1962. Her grandson Frédéric Billot lived next door with his wife Renée.<ref name=validation /> Her brother François died in 1962, aged 97. Her son-in-law Joseph died in January 1963, and her grandson Frédéric died in an automobile accident in August of the same year.<ref name=NYTimesDeath /><ref name=validation />

In 1965, aged 90 and with no heirs left, Calment signed a [[life estate]] contract on her apartment with [[notary public]] André-François Raffray, selling the property in exchange for a right of occupancy and a monthly revenue of 2,500 [[French franc|franc]]s (€380) until her death. Raffray died in 1995, by which time Calment had received more than double the apartment's value from him, and his family had to continue making payments. Calment commented on the situation by saying, "in life, one sometimes makes bad deals".<ref name=LifeLease>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/29/world/a-120-year-lease-on-life-outlasts-apartment-heir.html |title=A 120-Year Lease on Life Outlasts Apartment Heir |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=28 December 1995 |access-date=17 January 2018}}</ref> In 1985, she moved into a nursing home, having lived on her own until age 110.<ref name=NYTimesDeath /> A documentary film about her life, entitled ''Beyond 120 Years with Jeanne Calment'', was released in 1995.<ref name=LastingTribute>{{cite web | title=Tribute to Jeanne Calment, memorial – Lasting tribute| url=http://www.lastingtribute.co.uk/tribute/calment/2603938| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091106034901/http://www.lastingtribute.co.uk/tribute/calment/2603938 |archive-date=6 November 2009 |publisher=Lasting Tribute| access-date=5 August 2008}}</ref> In 1996, ''Time's Mistress'', a four-track CD of Calment speaking over a background of [[rapping|rap]], was released.<ref>{{cite news | title=Obituary: Jeanne Calment|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-jeanne-calment-1243875.html |date=5 August 1997 |work=[[The Independent]] |access-date=22 October 2019 }}</ref>

== Oldest human ever documented ==
=== Longevity records ===
In 1986, Calment became the oldest living person in France at the age of 111.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Go, granny, go |newspaper=[[The Anniston Star]] |date=2 July 1986 |page=7 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/106714084/}}</ref> Her profile increased during the centennial of [[Vincent van Gogh]]'s move to Arles, which occurred from February 1888 to April 1889 when she was 13–14 years old. Calment claimed to reporters that she had met Van Gogh at that time, introduced to him by her (future) husband in her uncle's shop. She remembered the meeting as a disappointment, and described him as ugly and "very disagreeable", adding that he "reeked of alcohol".<ref name=NYTimesDeath /><ref name=mccook>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VqEgAAAAIBAJ&pg=6026%2C3313956 |title=World's oldest person dead |work=[[McCook Daily Gazette]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |page=1 |date=4 August 1997 |access-date=5 May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite video |url=http://boutique.ina.fr/video/CAB89003100/jeanne-calment-114-and-a-rencontre-van-gogh.fr.html |title=Jeanne Calment, 114 ans, a rencontré Van Gogh |lang=fr |trans-title=Jeanne Calment, 114, met Van Gogh |work=[[Antenne 2]] |publisher=[[Institut national de l'audiovisuel]] |date=21 January 1989 |access-date=26 November 2011}}</ref> She was recognised by ''[[Guinness World Records]]'' as the world's oldest living person when she was 112.<ref name=Guinness>{{cite web |url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/60at60/2015/8/1988-oldest-living-human-being-of-all-time-392901 |title=1988: Oldest Living Human Being of All Time |publisher=[[Guinness World Records]] |first=Rob |last=Dimery |date=18 August 2015 |access-date=9 January 2019}}</ref> At the age of 114, she briefly appeared in the 1990 documentary film ''[[Vincent and Me]]'', walking outside and answering questions.<ref name=Guinness /> Her profile further increased when ''Guinness'' named her the oldest person ever in 1995.<ref name=SunJournal>{{cite news |first=Ronda |last=Addy |title=Life Expectancy |url=http://www.sunjournal.com/index.php?t=8&storyid=267178&subpub=118 |work=[[Sun Journal (Lewiston)|Sun Journal]] |date=25 May 2008 |access-date=6 August 2008 |archive-url=https://archive.is/20090201092634/http://www.sunjournal.com/index.php?t=8&storyid=267178&subpub=118 |archive-date=1 February 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Far exceeding any other verified human lifespan, Calment is widely reckoned the best-documented supercentenarian ever recorded. For example, she was listed in fourteen census records, beginning in 1876 as a one-year-old infant.<ref name=validation /> After Calment's death, at 122 years and 164 days, 116-year-old [[Marie-Louise Meilleur]] became the oldest validated living person. Several [[longevity claims|claims to have surpassed Calment's age]] were made, but no such case was proven. For over two decades, Calment has held the status of the oldest-ever human being whose age was validated by modern standards.<ref name=Hopper>{{cite news |last=Hopper |first=Tristin |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/world/historys-oldest-woman-a-fraud-theory-says-122-year-old-jeanne-calment-was-actually-a-99-year-old-imposter |title=History's oldest woman a fraud? Russian researchers claim 122-year-old Jeanne Calment was actually a 99-year-old imposter |work=[[National Post]] |location=Toronto, Canada |date=31 December 2018 |access-date=1 January 2019}}</ref>

=== Age verification ===
In 1994, the city of Arles inquired about Calment's personal documents, in order to contribute to the city archives. However, reportedly on Calment's instructions, her documents and family photographs were selectively burned by a distant family member, Josette Bigonnet, a cousin of her grandson. The verification of her age began in 1995 when she turned 120, and was conducted over a full year. She was asked questions about documented details concerning relatives, and about people and places from her early life, for instance teachers or maids. A great deal of emphasis was put on a series of documents from population censuses, in which Calment was named from 1876 to 1975. The family's membership in the local Catholic ''[[bourgeoisie]]'' helped researchers find corroborating chains of documentary evidence. Calment's father had been a member of the city council, and her husband owned a large drapery and clothing business. The family lived in two apartments located in the same building as the store, one for Calment, her husband and his mother, one for their daughter Yvonne, her husband and their child. Several house servants were registered in the premises as well.<ref name=validation />

=== Popular media reports ===
[[Apocryphal]] media articles reported varying details, some of them unlikely. One report claimed that Calment recalled selling coloured pencils to [[Vincent van Gogh|Van Gogh]], and seeing the [[Eiffel Tower]] being built.<ref name="Deseret19950221">{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CL4RAAAAIBAJ&pg=1584,3192209 |title=World's oldest person marks 120 beautiful, happy years |newspaper=[[Deseret News]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=21 February 1995 |access-date=3 April 2010}}</ref> Another wrote that she started fencing in 1960, aged 85.<ref name=CNN /> Calment reportedly ascribed her longevity and relatively youthful appearance for her age to a diet rich in [[olive oil]].<ref name=mccook />

=== Skepticism regarding age ===
[[File:JeanneCalmentaged22.jpg|thumb|upright|Daughter Yvonne Calment in front of the [[Church of St. Trophime, Arles|Church of St. Trophime]] in Arles, date unknown. This photograph was often mislabeled as depicting Calment aged 22.{{efn|group=note|In a 1988 ''[[Paris Match]]'' interview, this photograph was labeled "Jeanne Calment, then 22 years old, in 1897" (''Jeanne Calment, alors âgée de 22 ans, en 1897'').<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.parismatch.com/Actu/Societe/Ete-88-Jeanne-Calment-la-mamie-du-monde-1566969 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181021070003/https://www.parismatch.com/Actu/Societe/Ete-88-Jeanne-Calment-la-mamie-du-monde-1566969 |title=Été 88. Jeanne Calment, la mamie du monde |work=[[Paris Match]] |date=1 July 1988 |access-date=11 January 2019 |archive-date=21 October 2018}}</ref> In a biography of Calment published in 1995, the photograph was correctly labeled "Jeanne Calment's daughter Yvonne" (''Yvonne, la fille de Jeanne Calment''), but undated. On the [[Gerontology Research Group]]'s gallery of Calment's pictures, it was captioned "At age ~22" between 2007<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.grg.org/JCalmentGallery.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312094005/http://www.grg.org/JCalmentGallery.htm |title=Photo Gallery of Madame Jeanne-Louise Calment [1875 - 1997] |publisher=[[Gerontology Research Group]] |access-date=27 December 2018 |archive-date=12 March 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref> and 2018,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.grg.org/JCalmentGallery.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819092406/http://www.grg.org/JCalmentGallery.htm |title=Photo Gallery of Madame Jeanne-Louise Calment [1875 - 1997] |publisher=[[Gerontology Research Group]] |access-date=27 December 2018 |archive-date=19 August 2018}}</ref> and was corrected after Russian researchers contacted the GRG.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.grg.org/JCalmentGallery.htm |title=Photo Gallery of Madame Jeanne-Louise Calment [1875 - 1997] |publisher=[[Gerontology Research Group]] |access-date=17 December 2018}}</ref>}}]]

Demographers have highlighted that Calment's age is an [[outlier]], her lifespan being several years longer than the next [[list of the verified oldest people|oldest people ever documented]] (where the differences are usually by months or even weeks).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lenart |first1=Adam |last2=Aburto |first2=José Manuel |last3=Stockmarr |first3=Anders |last4=Vaupel |first4=James W. |title=The human longevity record may hold for decades |journal=Quantitative Biology > Populations and Evolution |date=11 September 2018|arxiv=1809.03732|bibcode=2018arXiv180903732L}}</ref> There have been various theories about the authenticity of her age.<ref name="gavrilovs2000">{{cite journal |last1=Gavrilov |first1=Leonid A. |last2=Gavrilova |first2=Natalya S. |title=Book Review: ''Validation of exceptional longevity'', Odense University Press, 1999 |journal=Population and Development Review |date=2000 |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=403–404 |issn=0098-7921}}</ref> In 2018, Russian gerontologist Valery Novoselov and mathematician [[Nikolay Zak]] revived the theory that Calment died in 1934 and her daughter Yvonne, born in 1898, assumed her mother's official identity and was therefore 99 years old when she died in 1997. However, Zak had difficulty getting published. A Russian scientific journal found his paper too informal, as well as the [[bioRxiv]] preprint repository, which led Zak to choose [[ResearchGate]], a social networking site for scientists and researchers.<ref name=Rosenberg /> It was finally accepted for publication in January 2019 in the peer-reviewed journal ''[[Rejuvenation Research]]''.<ref name=rejuvenation>{{cite journal |first=Nikolay |last=Zak |journal=[[Rejuvenation Research]] |volume = 22|pages = 3–12|title=Evidence that Jeanne Calment died in 1934, not 1997 |doi=10.1089/rej.2018.2167 |date=30 January 2019 |issue=1 |pmc=6424156 |pmid=30696353}}</ref> In the meantime, the theory had attracted widespread media attention since 30 December 2018 after a series of postings on ''[[Medium (website)|Medium]]'' titled "J'Accuse!" by gerontology blogger Yuri Deigin [[viral phenomenon|went viral]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2018/12/30/cette-surprenante-theorie-sur-lage-de-jeanne-calment-affole-les-reseaux-sociaux_a_23629835/ |title=Cette surprenante théorie sur l'âge de Jeanne Calment affole les réseaux sociaux |language=fr |trans-title=This surprising theory about Jeanne Calment's age sets social networks on fire |work=[[HuffPost]] |date=30 December 2018 |access-date=23 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.lepoint.fr/societe/la-theorie-qui-deboulonne-jeanne-calment-30-12-2018-2282513_23.php |title=La théorie qui déboulonne… Jeanne Calment |language=fr |trans-title=The theory that debunks… Jeanne Calment |work=[[Le Point]] |date=30 December 2018 |access-date=23 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2019/01/01/01016-20190101ARTFIG00127-des-russes-remettent-en-cause-l-age-de-jeanne-calment-doyenne-de-l-humanite.php |title=Des Russes remettent en cause l'âge de Jeanne Calment, doyenne de l'humanité |language=fr |trans-title=Russians question the age of Jeanne Calment, world's oldest person |first=Morgane |last=Rubetti |newspaper=[[Le Figaro]] |agency=[[Agence France Presse|AFP]] |date=1 January 2019 |access-date=23 January 2019}}</ref> This theory, however, is considered weak by mainstream longevity experts, such as French gerontologist [[Jean-Marie Robine]].<ref name="Experts">[https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/9/18174435/oldest-person-alive-woman-age-jeanne-calment-controversy-longevity-mortality-statistics ''How We Know the Oldest Person Who Ever Lived Wasn't Faking Her Age'']; Chen, Angela; Angela Chen@chengela; 9 January 2019; WebPage; quote: "...Not just her family, but the entire city of Arles would have needed to keep the conspiracy going... All of this is incredibly shaky and rests on nothing." —''[[Jean-Marie Robine]]''</ref>

Robine, a French gerontologist and one of two validators of Calment, dismissed the claims and pointed out that during his research Calment had correctly answered questions about things that her daughter could not have known first hand.<ref name=Sage>{{cite news |last=Sage |first=Adam |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/woman-lived-as-122-year-old-mother-to-dodge-tax-cfwd8bcm6 |title=Oldest ever woman Jeanne Calment, 122, may have been a fraud |work=[[The Times]] |location=London |date=1 January 2019 |access-date=1 January 2019 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name=Baheux>{{cite news |url=http://www.leparisien.fr/societe/jeanne-calment-une-imposture-le-scientifique-qui-a-valide-son-record-s-insurge-30-12-2018-7978578.php |title=Jeanne Calment, une imposture ? Le Scientifique qui a validé son record s'insurge |language=fr |trans-title=Jeanne Calment, a fraud? Scientist who validated her record protests |newspaper=[[Le Parisien]] |first=Romain |last=Baheux |date=30 December 2018 |access-date=31 December 2018}}</ref> Robine also dismissed the idea that the residents of [[Arles]] could have been duped by the switch.<ref name=Baheux /><ref name=Smithsonian>{{cite news |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/study-questions-age-worlds-oldest-woman-180971153/ |title=Was the World's Oldest Person Ever Actually Her 99-Year-Old Daughter? |first=Jason |last=Daley |work=[[Smithsonian Magazine]] |date=2 January 2019 |quote=Overnight, Fernand Calment would have passed his daughter off for his wife and everyone would have kept silent? It is staggering.}}</ref> Michel Allard, the second doctor who helped verify Calment's records, said that the team had considered the identity switch theory while Calment was still alive because she looked younger than her daughter in photographs, but similar discrepancies in the rates of aging are commonly found in families with centenarian members.<ref name=France-Inter>{{cite news |first1=Hélène |last1=Chevallier |first2=Stéphane |last2=Jourdain |first3=Valeria |last3=Emanuele |title=Les experts qui ont validé la longévité de Jeanne Calment répondent aux chercheurs russes point par point |language=fr |trans-title=Experts who validated Jeanne Calment's longevity refute each point by Russian researchers |url=https://www.franceinter.fr/societe/les-medecins-qui-ont-valide-la-longevite-de-jeanne-calment-repondent-aux-chercheurs-russes-point-par-point |work=[[France Inter]] |date=2 January 2019 |access-date=2 January 2019}}</ref> Allard and Robine also pointed out the existence of numerous documents relating to Calment's activities throughout her life, and that the Russians brought no evidence forward to support their hypothesis.<ref name=France-Inter/>

After a meeting of the [[National Institute for Demographic Studies]] (INED) in Paris on 23 January 2019, French, Swiss, and Belgian longevity experts concluded that none of the Russian claimants provided any proof of an identity substitution, and they also announced that further research would be launched.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.leparisien.fr/societe/pourquoi-la-science-se-dechire-sur-l-affaire-jeanne-calment-24-01-2019-7996305.php |title=Pourquoi la science se déchire sur l'affaire Jeanne Calment |language=fr |trans-title=Why scientists are torn apart by the Jeanne Calment affair |newspaper=[[Le Parisien]] |first=Romain |last=Baheux |date=24 January 2019 |access-date=27 January 2019}}</ref> ''[[The Washington Post]]'', after consulting several experts, noted that "statistically improbable is not the same thing as statistically impossible". The Russian claims are generally dismissed by the overwhelming majority of scientists, finding the Russian paper to be "lacking, if not outright deficient".<ref name=Rosenberg>{{citation|last=Rosenberg|first=Eli|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/01/12/how-madame-calment-worlds-oldest-person-became-fuel-russian-conspiracy-theory/?noredirect=on|title=The world's oldest person record stood for decades. Then came a Russian conspiracy theory|work=The Washington Post|access-date=12 January 2019|url-access=subscription|archive-url=https://archive.li/20190117183332/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/01/12/how-madame-calment-worlds-oldest-person-became-fuel-russian-conspiracy-theory/?noredirect=on|archive-date=17 January 2019}}</ref> In September 2019, several French scientists, including Robine and Allard, released a paper in ''[[The Journals of Gerontology]]'' where they contest the various claims made by Zak and his colleagues and point out various inaccuracies in the paper. The team presented evidence to support Calment's age—including multiple official documents, census data, and photographic evidence—and also argued that it was indeed statistically possible to reach Calment's age. The authors criticised the advocates of the identity switch hypothesis, and called for a retraction of Zak's article.<ref>{{Citation | last1 = Robine | first1 = Jean-Marie | last2 = Allard | first2 = Michel | last3 = Herrmann | first3 = François R. | last4 = Jeune | first4 = Bernard | title = The Real Facts Supporting Jeanne Calment as the Oldest Ever Human | journal = The Journals of Gerontology: Series A | volume = 74 | pages = S13–S20 | date = 2019 | issue = Suppl_1 | doi = 10.1093/gerona/glz198 | pmid = 31529019 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

In February 2020, Zak and Philip Gibbs published an assessment applying [[Bayes' theorem]] to the question of her authenticity, claiming "a 99.99% chance of an identity switch in the case of Mme Calment".<ref>{{cite journal|author=Nikolay Zak, Philip Gibbs|url=https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/rej.2019.2227|title=A Bayesian Assessment of the Longevity of Jeanne Calment|journal=Rejuvenation Research|date=Feb 2020|volume=23|issue=1|pages=3–16|doi=10.1089/rej.2019.2227|pmid=31578922|doi-access=free}}</ref> François Robin-Champigneul and Robert Young commented on Zak's and Gibbs' findings, Robin-Champigneul noting that it "appears to be in fact a subjective and nonrigorous analysis" and Young that "[i]gnoring the actual facts of the case and stringing together opinions in a 'Bayesian' analysis are to merely misuse a mathematical tool". Young found that "a very solid case that Jeanne was 122 years has already been made" but that biosampling still was needed to test "for biomarkers of extraordinary longevity". Robin-Champigneul found that "the hypothesis of an identity swap with her daughter appears not even realistic given the context and the facts, and not supported by evidence".<ref>{{cite journal|author=François Robin-Champigneul|url=https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/rej.2019.2298|title=Jeanne Calment's Unique 122-Year Life Span: Facts and Factors; Longevity History in Her Genealogical Tree|journal=Rejuvenation Research|date=Feb 2020|volume=23|issue=1|pages=19–47|doi=10.1089/rej.2019.2298|pmid=31928146|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Robert Young|url=https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/rej.2020.2303|title=If Jeanne Calment Were 122, That Is All the More Reason for Biosampling|journal=Rejuvenation Research|date=Feb 2020|volume=23|issue=1|pages=48–64|doi=10.1089/rej.2020.2303|pmid=31928204|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=Rosenberg />

== Health and lifestyle ==
Calment's remarkable health presaged her later record. On television she stated "J'ai jamais été malade, jamais, jamais" (I have never been ill, never ever).<ref name="Mise au Point">{{cite video |title=Comme si c'était hier: Jeanne Calment |url=http://www.rts.ch/video/emissions/mise-au-point/5931633-comme-si-c-etait-hier-jeanne-calment.html |work=Mise Au Point |publisher=[[Radio Télévision Suisse]] |date=15 June 2014 |access-date=2 December 2016}}</ref> At age 20, incipient [[cataract]]s were discovered when she suffered a major episode of [[conjunctivitis]].<ref name=Garoyan1990 />{{rp|22–42}} She married at 21, and her husband's wealth allowed her to live without ever working. All her life she took care of her skin with olive oil and a puff of powder.<ref name=Allard1998 />{{rp|15–18}} At an unspecified time in her youth, she had suffered from [[migraine]]s.<ref name=Allard1998 />{{rp|1–13}} Her husband introduced her to smoking, offering cigarettes (or cigars<ref name=Garoyan1990 />{{rp|4–21}}) after meals, but she did not smoke more. ("After the meal, after just one, I'd had enough of it".)<ref name=Allard1998 />{{rp|65–74}} Calment continued smoking in her elderly years, until she was 117.<ref name=NYTimesDeath /><ref name=Allard1998 />{{rp|65–74}} At "retirement age" she broke her ankle, but before that had never suffered any major injuries.<ref name=Allard1998 />{{rp|15–18}} She continued cycling until her hundredth birthday.<ref name=Garoyan1990 />{{rp|4–21}} Around age 100, she fractured her leg, but recovered quickly and was able to walk again.<ref name=Allard1998 />{{rp|1–13}}<ref name=Garoyan1990 />{{rp|22–42}}

After her brother, her son-in-law and her grandson died in 1962–63, Calment had no remaining family members. She lived on her own from age 88 until shortly before her 110th birthday, when she decided to move to a [[nursing home]].<ref name=validation /> Her move was precipitated by the winter of 1985 which froze the water pipes in her house (she never used heating in the winter) and caused [[frostbite]] to her hands.<ref name=Garoyan1990 />{{rp|4–21}} According to one of her doctors, she had been quite healthy until she moved to the nursing home, and only began showing signs of ageing during her stay.

=== Daily routine ===
After her admission to the Maison du Lac nursing home in January 1985, aged 109, Calment initially followed a highly ritualised daily routine. She requested to be awoken at 6:45{{nbsp}}am, and started the day with a long prayer at her window, thanking [[God]] for being alive and for the beautiful day which was starting. She sometimes loudly asked the reason for her longevity and why she was the only one alive in her family. Seated on her armchair, she did gymnastics wearing her stereo headset. Her exercises included flexing and extending the hands, then the legs. Nurses noted that she moved faster than other residents who were 30 years younger. Her breakfast consisted of coffee with milk and [[rusk]]s.

She washed herself unassisted with a [[flannel]] cloth rather than taking a shower, applying first soap, then olive oil and powder to her face. She washed her own glass and cutlery before proceeding to lunch. She enjoyed ''daube'' ([[braising|braised beef]]) but was not keen on boiled fish. She had dessert with every meal, and said that given a choice she would eat fried and spicy foods instead of the bland foods on the menu.<ref name=Allard1998 />{{rp|85–92}} She made herself daily fruit salads with bananas and oranges. She enjoyed chocolate, sometimes indulging in a kilogram (2.2&nbsp;lb) per week.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.amazon.fr/120-Jeanne-Calment-Doyenne-lhumanit%C3%A9/dp/B00C3CEMB6 |title=Les 120 ans de Jeanne Calment, doyenne de l'humanité |language=fr |trans-title=Jeanne Calment's 120 years, humanity's elder |first1=Michel |last1=Allard |first2=Victor |last2=Lèbre |first3=Jean-Marie |last3=Robine |publisher=Le Cherche-Midi |location=Paris |year=1994 |page=92 |isbn=978-2-862743462 |quote=More than once, she surprised her entourage by her digestive abilities; she said herself 'I have the stomach of an ostrich!' which did not prevent her from appreciating good things. She showed herself more than once capable of absorbing considerable quantities of chocolate: more than a kilo per week.}}</ref> After the meal, she smoked a [[Dunhill (cigarette)|Dunhill cigarette]] and drank a small amount of [[port wine]]. In the afternoon, she would take a nap for two hours in her armchair, and then visit her neighbours in the care home, telling them about the latest news she had heard on the radio. At nightfall, she would dine quickly, return to her room, listen to music (her poor eyesight preventing her from enjoying her crosswords pastime), smoke a last cigarette and go to bed at 10:00{{nbsp}}pm.<ref name=Garoyan1990 />{{rp|4–21}}<ref name=Allard1998 />{{rp|85–92}} On Sundays she went to [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]], and on Fridays to [[Vespers]], and regularly conversed with and sought help from God, and wondered about the afterlife.<ref name=Allard1998 />{{rp|107–112}}

=== Medical follow-up ===
Medical student Georges Garoyan published a thesis on Calment when she was 114 years old in January 1990. The first part records her daily routine, and the second presents her medical history. She stated that she had been vaccinated as a child but could not remember which vaccine(s). Apart from aspirin against migraines she had never taken any medicine, not even herbal teas. She did not contract [[German measles]], [[chickenpox]], or urinary infections, and was not prone to hypertension or diabetes. In April 1986, aged 111, she was sent to a hospital for [[heart failure]] and treated with [[digoxin]]. Later she suffered from [[arthropathy]] in the ankles, elbows, and wrists, which was successfully treated with [[anti-inflammatory]] medication. Her arterial blood pressure was 140mm/70mm, her pulse 84/min. Her height was {{cvt|150|cm|ftin}}, and her weight {{cvt|45|kg}}, showing little variation from previous years. She scored well on mental tests, except on numeric tasks and recall of recent events.

Analyses of her blood samples were in [[reference ranges for blood tests|normal range]]s between ages 111–114, with no signs of dehydration, anemia, chronic infection or renal impairment. Genetic analysis of the [[HLA system]] revealed the presence of the [[HLA-DR1|DR1 allele]], common among centenarians. A cardiological assessment revealed a moderate left [[ventricle (heart)|ventricular]] hypertrophy with a mild left [[atrial]] dilatation and [[premature heart beat|extrasystolic arrhythmia]]. Radiology revealed diffuse [[osteoporosis]], as well as incipient [[osteoarthritis]] in the right hip. An ultrasound exam showed no anomalies of internal organs.<ref name=Garoyan1990 />{{rp|22–42}} At this stage, Calment was still in good health, and continued to walk without a cane.<ref name=Garoyan1990 />{{rp|22–42}} She fell in January 1990 (aged 114) and fractured her [[femur]], which required surgery.<ref name=validation /> Subsequently, Calment used a wheelchair,<ref name=Allard1998 />{{rp|1–13}} and she abandoned her daily routine.<ref name=Allard1998 />{{rp|85–92}}

At the age of 115, Calment attracted the attention of researchers Jean-Marie Robine and Dr. Michel Allard, who collaborated with her attending doctor, Dr. Victor Lèbre, to interview her, verify her age and identify factors promoting her longevity. According to their year-long analysis, Calment's vision was severely impaired by bilateral cataracts, yet she refused to undergo a routine operation to restore her eyesight; she had a moderately weak heart, a chronic cough ("caused no doubt by her previous use of tobacco"), and bouts of [[rheumatism]]. On the other hand, her digestion was always good, she slept well, and did not have [[urinary incontinence|incontinence]]. During the last years, she was {{cvt|137|cm|ftin}} tall, and weighed {{cvt|40|kg}}; she confirmed that she had always been small, and had lost weight in recent years. Her eyes were [[eye color|light grey]], and her [[human hair color#Gray and white hair|white hair]] had once been chestnut brown.<ref name=Allard1998 />{{rp|1–13}}

At the age of 118, she was submitted to repeated neurophysiological tests and a [[CT scan]]. The tests showed that her verbal memory and language fluency were comparable to those of persons with the same level of education in their eighties and nineties. [[Frontal lobe|Frontal brain lobe]] functions were relatively spared from deterioration, and there was no evidence of progressive [[neurological disease]], depressive symptoms or other functional illness. Her cognitive functioning was observed to improve slightly over the six-month period.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ritchie |first1=Karen |institution=[[INSERM]] |title=Mental status examination of an exceptional case of longevity: J. C. aged 118 years |journal= British Journal of Psychiatry |date=February 1995 |volume=166 |issue=2 |pages=229–235 |pmid=7728367 |doi=10.1192/bjp.166.2.229 }}</ref> Calment reportedly remained "mentally sharp" until the end of her life.<ref name=mccook/>

=== Supercentenarian clinical study ===
Jeune, Robine, and other researchers compared Calment with nearly 20 people worldwide who had been verified to have reached at least 115 years of age. They concluded that the lives of these people differed widely and that they had just a few common traits: most of them were female (only two were male), most smoked little or not at all, and they had never been obese. They all had exhibited strong characters, but not all were domineering personalities. Although they aged slowly, all became very frail and their physical fitness declined markedly, especially after age 105. In their final years, they required wheelchairs and were nearly blind and deaf. "But they did not fear death, and they appeared to be reconciled to the fact their lives would soon end."<ref>{{cite book | title=Jeanne Calment and her successors. Biographical notes on the longest living humans. In: H. Maier et al. (eds) Supercentenarians. Demographic Research Monographs |authors=Jeune B, Robine JM, Young R, Desjardins B, Skytthe A, Vaupel JW |year = 2010|publisher = Springer, Berlin & Heidelberg |pages = 285–286}}</ref>

== Death ==
Calment died of unspecified causes<ref name=mccook /> on 4 August 1997 around 10{{nbsp}}a.m.<ref name=NYTimesDeath /><ref>''[[Guinness World Records|The Guinness Book of Records]]'', 1999 edition, p. 102, {{ISBN|0-85112-070-9}}.</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' quoted Robine as stating that she had been in good health, though almost blind and deaf, as recently as a month before her death.<ref name=NYTimesDeath />

== See also ==
{{portal|biography|France}}
*[[Jiroemon Kimura]] (1897–2013), the oldest man whose age was verified
*[[List of French supercentenarians]]
*[[List of the verified oldest people]]
*[[Maximum life span]]
*[[Oldest people|Lists of oldest people]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*{{cite book|last=Robine|first=Jean-Marie|author2=Allard, Michel|year=1999|title=Jeanne Calment: Validation of the Duration of Her Life|series=Validation of Exceptional Longevity|editor=Jeune, Bernard|editor2=Vaupel, James W.|publisher=Odense University Press|isbn=978-87-7838-466-9}}
*{{cite book|last=Cavalié|first=France|title=Jeanne Calment. L'Oubliée de Dieu [Jeanne Calment. The One Overlooked by God]|series=Grands témoins [Great Witnesses]|publisher=TF1 Éditions/Notre Temps, Paris|year=1995}}

== External links ==
* {{cite interview | title=France 2 20h Special News Broadcast on Mrs Calment's death. Interview with Dr Catherine Levraud, her Medical Doctor| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXTRD50auOE| last=Catherine |first=Levraud |work=[[Journal de 20 heures]]| date=4 August 1997| access-date=6 December 2016 |publisher=[[Institut national audiovisuel]] }}
* {{cite video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXTRD50auOE |title=20h France 2 du 4 août 1997 - Mort de Jeanne Calment |work=[[France 2]] |publisher=[[Institut national de l'audiovisuel]] |date=4 August 1997 |access-date=9 January 2019}}
{{Commons category}}
{{wikiquote|Jeanne Calment}}
*{{OL subject|person:Jeanne_Calment_(1875-)}}
*{{Worldcat id|lccn-n95088531}}

{{Longevity|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calment, Jeanne}}
[[Category:1875 births]]
[[Category:1997 deaths]]
[[Category:Women supercentenarians]]
[[Category:French Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:French supercentenarians]]
[[Category:Oldest people]]
[[Category:People from Arles]]
[[Category:World record holders]]