The Wright brothers’ first flight, World War II, the moon landing, and the fall of the Soviet Union — Jeanne Calment lived through it all.
Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment holds the record for the longest confirmed human lifespan, living from February 21, 1875, to August 4, 1997 — a remarkable 122 years and 164 days.
This was reported by the magazine Historie.
A Well-Documented Life
Calment’s longevity has been extensively documented.
Born into an upper-class family in Arles, France, her father served on the city council, and her husband was a wealthy businessman with extensive connections.
In 1995, a team of researchers spent a year verifying her age, cross-referencing documents such as 14 French censuses, including one from 1876, which confirmed she was one year old at the time. They also conducted interviews with Calment herself, establishing her as the oldest verified person in history.
Calment credited her longevity to consuming olive oil, which she used generously in her diet and skincare, as well as her generally positive outlook on life.
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Controversy and Theories
Despite thorough verification, Calment’s age has been challenged.
Russian researchers Valery Novoselov and Nikolay Zak proposed that Jeanne Calment had actually died in 1934, and her daughter, Yvonne, assumed her identity to avoid inheritance taxes.
This theory, while provocative, has been dismissed by many experts due to a lack of concrete evidence. The documentation supporting Calment’s lifespan remains robust, and her status as the oldest verified person is widely accepted.
Other Longevity Records
At the start of 2022, the title of the oldest living person belonged to Kane Tanaka of Japan.
Born on January 2, 1903, Tanaka celebrated her 119th birthday that year.
While many people have claimed to surpass Calment’s age, no other claims have been as thoroughly documented and verified, leaving Jeanne Calment as the longest-lived person in recorded history.
