Ragon was born as Madeleine Louise Normand in Paris, France on 27 March 1905 as the daughter of Marius and Prudence Normand. As a child, she played the piano and the violin, and retained vivid memories of World War I. Science and geography were her favourite subjects, and throughout her life, embraced new technologies.

Ragon’s parents were strict, and pushed her to achieve great things, sending her to boarding school. After Ragon found an internship easy, she enrolled in the French Dental School in Paris.

Aged 24, Ragon got a job as a dental surgeon, being one of the first women in France to do so, and soon after, opened her own practice. She got married aged 35, in 1940, and had no children. She enjoyed rowing as an adult.

Ragon moved into a retirement home in Gouvieux, Oise department, aged 103. As of her 110th birthday in 2015, Ragon reportedly had a living sister aged 104 at the time. She died on 8 March 2017 in Gouvieux aged 111 years, 346 days.