Meet Madame Jeanne Louise Calment, who held the record for the longest confirmed lifespan: 122 years and 164 days. Apparently, fate firmly approved of the way she lived her life.
She was born in Arles, France, on February 21, 1875. The Eiffel Tower was built when she was 14. She even met Vincent van Gogh. “He was dirty, badly dressed, and unpleasant,” she recalled in a 1988 interview.
At age 85, she took up fencing and was riding a bicycle at 100. At 114, she starred in a movie about her life, at 115, she had hip surgery, and at 117, she quit smoking (having started at 21 in 1896, not for health reasons). Her reason? She didn’t like having to ask someone to light her cigarette when she was nearly blind.
In 1965, Jeanne was 90 years old and had no heirs. She signed an agreement to sell her apartment to a 47-year-old lawyer named André-François Raffray. He agreed to pay her a monthly sum of 2,500 francs in exchange for inheriting her apartment after her death. However, Raffray not only ended up paying Jeanne for 30 years, but he also died at 77, before she did. His widow was legally obliged to continue paying Madame Calment until her passing.
Jeanne kept her mental faculties sharp. When asked on her 120th birthday what kind of future she expected, her response was: “A very short one.”
Here are Jeanne Louise Calment’s rules for life:
- “I’m in love with wine.”
- “All babies are beautiful.”
- “I think I’ll die laughing.”
- “I have been forgotten by the Good Lord.”
- “I have only one wrinkle, and I’m sitting on it.”
- “I never use mascara; I laugh until I cry constantly.”
- “If you can’t change something, don’t worry about it.”
- “Always keep your smile. That’s how I explain my long life.”
- “I see poorly, hear poorly, and feel poorly, but everything is fine.”
- “I have a huge desire to live and a big appetite, especially for sweets.”
- “I have iron legs, but to tell you the truth, they’re starting to rust and wobble a bit.”
- “I indulged myself whenever I could. I acted clearly and morally, and with no regrets. I am very lucky.”
- “Being young is a state of mind, it doesn’t depend on one’s body. In fact, I’m still a young girl; I just haven’t looked so good for the past 70 years.”
At the end of an interview, a journalist said, “Madame, I hope we’ll see each other again sometime next year.” To which Jeanne replied, “Why not? You’re not that old; you’ll still be here!”
