Biography
Jeanne Louise Calment was born at 7:00 AM on 21 February 1875 in Arles, France. Her close family members also lived to an advanced age: her brother, Francois, lived to the age of 97, her father, Nicolas, 92, and her mother, Marguerite, 86.
In 1896, she married her second cousin (grandson of her great-uncle) Fernand Calment, a wealthy store owner. His wealth made it possible for Calment to never have to work; instead, she led a relaxed lifestyle, pursuing hobbies like tennis, cycling, swimming, roller skating, piano, and opera. Her husband died in 1942 after eating a dessert that happened to contain spoiled cherries.
Jeanne Calment and her husband had a daughter, Yvonne (19 January 1898 – 19 January 1934), who died from pneumonia on her 36th birthday. She also outlived her grandson, Frederic Billot (23 December 1926 – 13 August 1963), who died in an automobile accident.
At the age of 100, Calment suffered a fall that broke her ankle, but Calment to learn to walk again and continued living independently. She lived on her own until two weeks before her 110th birthday in 1984. Following a small fire accidentally being set in her home, she reluctantly moved to a nursing home. In April 1986, aged 111, she was hospitalized due to heart failure, and was treated with digoxin. She continued to walk with minimal assistance until shortly before her 115th birthday, when she broke her hip after suffering a fall. Despite recovering well from the surgery, she celebrated her 115th birthday from her hospital bed, and remained wheelchair bound for the rest of her life. Throughout her final decade of life, her vision gradually deteriorated, to the point where she could see little more than light by the time she was 114, and could only hear well out of one ear.
Neuropsychologist Karen Ritchie tested Calment for incipient dementia over a number of years. Through her tests, she found that Calment not only didn’t suffer from dementia, but saw her cognitive abilities improve through the testing.
Following her 122nd birthday, it was announced that Calment would no longer make any public appearances. Calment died on 4 August 1997 in Arles, Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur, France at the age of 122 years, 164 days.
