Long before the Paris 2024 Olympics and the fantastic feats of Léon Marchand, a French woman established a world record which has still not been broken. A true national pride!
Certain records captivate because they seem untouchable, almost unreal. The field of human longevity is no exception. While advances in medicine are pushing back the limits of age, France today has more than 31,000 centenarians, a figure that is constantly increasing. Among them, supercentenarians – those who cross the threshold of 110 years – represent a rare biological elite.
Recent studies, published in particular by the National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED), show that living beyond the age of 105 is still an exception, a statistical singularity defying logic. In France, the number of people aged 105 or over was estimated at nearly 2,000 on 1er January 2023. But even in this restricted circle, one person towers above all the others, by a long way.
This person is Jeanne Calment. Born in Arles in 1875, her exceptional career still earns her the title of dean of humanity today. In 1995, it was officially recognized by the Guinness World Records as the longest-lived person in the world. However, this title was stripped from her in 1990 when Carrie C. White claimed to have been born in 1874, although doubts remained about the veracity of this date.
In any case, the latter died in 1991 and, in 1993, Jeanne Calment was again recorded in Guinness as the oldest person whose birth certificate can be authenticated with certainty. She finally died on August 4, 1997 at the age of 122. His record remains unbeatable to this day, despite the claims of a few centenarians in Iran or elsewhere, whose ages have never been authenticated with certainty.
But Jeanne Calment is not just a number. She embodies an extraordinary era and vitality. She met Vincent van Gogh, smoked cigarettes until she was 117, cycled until she was 100, and signed a life contract which, ironically, worked to her advantage because of her longevity spectacular. She died in 1997, at age 122, leaving behind a world record that still defies the laws of biology.
This number – 122 years and 164 days – remains a feat never equaled to this day. Especially since the average life expectancy of a French woman born in the 19th century was only 40 to 50 years. At a time when researchers are questioning the absolute limits of human life, Jeanne Calment remains a true symbol, decades after her death.