Jeanne
Louise Calment had the longest confirmed human lifespan on
record: 122 years and 164 days.
It
seems that fate strongly approved of the way Madam Calment
lived her life.
Jeanne
was born in Arles, France, on 21st February 1875.
When
the Eiffel Tower was built, she was 14 year old.
It
was at this time that she met Vincent van Gogh.
"He
was dirty, badly dressed and disagreeable," she recalled in an
interview given in 1988.
When
she was 85, she took up fencing, and she was still riding on
her bike when she reached 100.
When
Jeanne was 114, she starred in a film about her life; at 115
she had an operation on her hip, and at 117 she gave up
smoking (having started at the age of 21 in 1896).
Apparently,
she didn't give it up for health reasons, but because she
didn't like having to ask someone to help her light a
cigarette once she was becoming almost blind.
In
1965, Jeanne was 90 years old and had no heirs.
She
signed a deal to sell her apartment to a 47-year-old lawyer
called André-François Raffray.
He
agreed to pay her a monthly sum of 2,500 francs on the
condition that he would inherit her apartment after she
died.
However,
Raffray not only ended up paying Jeanne for 30 years, but died
before she did at the age of 77.
His
widow was legally obliged to continue paying Madam Calment
until the end of her days.
Jeanne
retained sharp mental faculties.
When
she was asked on her 120th birthday what kind of future she
expected to have, she replied: "A very short one."
Quotes
and rules of life from Jeanne Calment:
"Being
young is a state of mind, it doesn't depend on one's body, I'm
actually still a young girl; it's just that I haven't looked
so good for the past 70 years."
"I've
only got one wrinkle, and I'm sitting on it."
"All
babies are beautiful."
"I've
been forgotten by our good lord."
"I'm
in love with wine."
"Always
keep your smile. That's how I explain my long life."
"If
you can't change something, don't worry about it."
"I
have a huge desire to live and a big appetite, especially for
sweets."
"I
never wear mascara; I laugh until I cry too often."
"I
see badly, I hear badly, and I feel bad, but everything's
fine."
"I
think I will die of laughter."
"I
have legs of iron, but to tell you the truth, they're starting
to rust and buckle a bit."
"I
took pleasure when I could. I acted clearly and morally and
without regret. I'm very lucky."
(At
the end of one interview, in response to a journalist who said
he hoped they would meet again the following year):
"Why
not? You're not that old; you'll still be here."
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