OLDEST PERSN IN THE WORLD: Jeanne Louis Calment

Jeanne Louis Calment ( 21st-Feb-1875 to 4th-Aug-1997) Lived 122 years and 164 days.

As per the available record in the world, it was Jeanne Louis Calment from France is the oldest person lived in the earth. She was born in 21 February 1875 at Arles, France and completed an age of 122 years + 164 days. Her husband was Fernand Calment (lived: 1868–1942, married: 1896–1942

Calment at the age of 22, in 1897

Calment was born in Arles and lived there itself for all of her life. Her father, Mr.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 was got married at the age of 21 to her great uncle's grandson and her second cousin, Fernand Calment, in 1896. Fernand was a rich store owner and this richness helped Jeanne live a lavish life. She never really had to work and pursued learning the piano, swimming, cycling, tennis and opera. Calment claimed to have met Vincent Van Gogh, the famous Painter, 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 person".

Calment at the age of 40, in 1915

Calment gave birth to a daughter named Yvonne in 1898. Yvonne was her only daughter who gave birth to her grandson, Frederic, in 1926. Calment outlived her daughter who died due to pneumonia at the age of 36 and her grandson too, who died at the age of 36 due to an accident. Fernand had already passed away at the age of 73 after eating dessert made from spoiled cherries.



In 1965, aged 90 years and with no heirs, Calment signed a deal to sell her former apartment to a lawyer, André-François Raffray, on a contingency contract. Mr.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 due to cancer at the age of 77, in 1995, his widow continued the payments until Calment's death.

Calment at her 121st Birthday!!


Jeanne, who is recorded as the oldest person to ever live, had a lifestyle that hardly suits this title and was an example of graceful aging. She has always proved that the ‘healthy living’ is not the answer to a long life. She was a smoker for almost her entire life and ate one kilo of chocolate weekly in addition to a port wine diet!! In 1994, her weight was said to be 45kg. She had a remarkable health and lived on her own till a surprising age of 110. She took up hobbies like fencing at the age of 85 and cycled till she was about 100 years of age. In 1995, on 17 November a documentary was released based on her life and was named Beyond 120 Years with Jeanne Calment. She was moved into a nursing home only after she had a cooking accident which led to a small fire in her apartment. This accident was said to be an outcome of improper vision. After another accident where she fractured her femur, she had to always use a wheelchair. She was at the age of 114.

A public health researcher who studied Calment at her age of 122 and said that, “She is in good health besides being mostly blind and deaf”


The 10 Oldest People in the World

Rank/ Name/ Age/ Country
1 Jeanne Calment 122 years, 164 days France
2 Shigechiyo Izumi 120 years, 237 days Japan
3 Sarah Knauss 119 years, 97 days United States
4 Lucy Hannah 117 years, 248 days United States
5 Marie-Louise Meilleur 117 years, 230 days Canada
6 Maria Capovilla 116 years, 347 days Ecuador
7 Tane Ikai 116 years, 175 days Japan
8 Elizabeth Bolden 116 years, 118 days United States
9 Carrie C. White 116 years, 88 days United States
10 Kamato Hongo 116 years, 45 days Japan