Jeanne Louise Calment, the Oldest Verified Person in Recorded History at 122 Years Old

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Jeanne Louise Calment. 1875-1997.

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Blog Created: 8-17-2026

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Meet Jeanne Louise Calment, the Oldest Verified Person in Recorded History

July 28, 2026

Jeanne Louise Calment (February 21, 1875 – August 4, 1997) was a French supercentenarian who is the oldest person in recorded history whose age has been verified, with a documented lifespan of 122 years and 164 days. Her longevity attracted media attention and medical studies of her health and lifestyle. Calment is the only person in history who has been verified to have reached the age of 120 years.

According to census records, Calment outlived both her daughter and her grandson. In January 1988, she was widely reported to be the oldest living person in the world. In 1995, at age 120, she was declared to be the oldest person in history with a verified date of birth.

Living across two different centuries, Calment witnessed vast changes in the world. As a 13-year-old in 1888, she met the famous painter when he visited her father's shop to buy colored pencils. She later recalled him being “scruffy, badly dressed, and disagreeable.” Calment was 14 years old when construction on the Eiffel Tower was completed in 1889. She lived to see the birth of cinema, the invention of airplanes, and survived both World Wars.

When Calment was 90 years old, she entered into a French “viager” real estate agreement with a 47-year-old attorney. Under the contract, he agreed to pay her a monthly sum (around $500) for life, in exchange for taking ownership of her apartment after she died. Expecting her to pass away within a few years, the attorney instead ended up paying her for 30 years before dying himself at age 77. His widow was legally obligated to continue the payments for nearly three more years until Calment passed. Calment famously joked, “You’re never too old to make a good deal.”

Calment was renowned for her energetic, positive personality and sharp sense of humor. She regularly consumed nearly a kilogram of chocolate a week, drank Port wine, used copious amounts of olive oil, and smoked from age 21 until she finally quit at 117.

Coming from a wealthy family, she never had to work and spent her life swimming, playing piano, cycling (which she did until age 100), and fencing (which she picked up at 85).

When a reporter once told her, “I hope we meet again next year,” she quickly fired back, “Why not? You’re not that old, you'll still be here!”

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From:

Folk Figure, Supercentenarian. Held the World Record for the oldest Living Person of 122 years and 164 days before she passed away in 1997.

Meet Madam Jeanne Louise Calment, who had the longest confirmed human lifespan: 122 years, 164 days. Apparently, fate strongly 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 years old. It was at this time 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 still rode her bike when she reached 100. At the age of 114, she starred in a film about her life, at age 115 she had an operation on her hip, and at age 117 she gave up smoking, having started at the age of 21 in 1896. She didn't give it up for health reasons; her reason was that she didn't like having to ask someone to help her light a cigarette once she was nearly 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 he would inherit her apartment after she died. However, Raffray not only ended up paying Jeanne for 30 years, but then 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. Her reply, "A very short one."

Here are the Rules of Life from Jeanne Louise Calment:

"I'm in love with wine."

"All babies are beautiful."

"I think I will die of laughter."

"I've been forgotten by our Good Lord."

"I've got only one wrinkle, and I'm sitting on it."

"I never wear mascara; I laugh until I cry often."

"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 badly, I hear badly, and I feel bad, but everything's fine."

"I have a huge desire to live and a big appetite, especially for sweets."

"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."

"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."

At the end of one interview, the journalist said, "Madame, I hope we will meet again sometime next year." To which Jeanne replied, "Why not? You're not that old; you'll still be here!"