Jeanne Calment from Van Gogh's Time to Ours 122 Extraordinary Years

by Michel Allard, Jean-Marie Robine, Victor Lèbre

Madame Jeanne Calment was born before the Eiffel Tower was built, before the telephone was invented, before Van Gogh (whom she met) arrived in her native Arles to paint. She was forty years old when world war broke out - the first one. By the time the second one came along, she had already retired. When she died in August 1997, at the age of 122 years and 164 days, she had survived a husband, daughter, and grandson. Hers was the longest life ever documented. In Jeanne From Van Gogh's Time to Ours, Michel Allard and Jean-Marie Robine, specialists in human aging, and Victor Lebre, Madame Calment's personal physician, assemble a vivid portrait of this charming, remarkable woman. Based on their interviews with Mme. Calment collected during her last years, the book offers a rare opportunity to view more than a century through the life of this centenarian - a life affected, like all of our lives, by the tumultuous turns of history both public and private. But Mme. Calment's story is not only about memories. She stands as an odds-defying case study in aging, living nearly twice as long as the average person. Adding to her biography, the authors examine the demographic, genetic, health, and lifestyle factors that could have contributed to her long life. Optimistic, opinionated, and well aware of he uniqueness of her life, Jeanne Calment is a captivating guide through a remarkable era. Readers of her story are in for an unforgettable encounter with history.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

136 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1998

Reviews

[Sagamore]

A short book but worth a read for a glimpse at Madam Calment's humor and a sense of how she lived. Jeanne Calment lived 122 years, a record not surpassed, at last count, for 20+ years.

Some examples of her witticisms:

1. re: attitude towards life “I had fun, I’m having fun”
2. “Excuse me if I’m clinging on to life, but my parents wove me from tight thread”
3. [how did you do the dishes] “with spit my dear; I just needed to command”
4. “the mayor is like pretty women, he makes himself wanted”
5. “wit doesn’t make girls pretty”

Interesting clues on her ancestry that concord with genetics research on Centenarians and Supercentenarians (ala Nir Barzilai)

1. her family had low infant mortality compared to surrounding population over 3 generations

2. 24% of people over 3 generations in her family exceeded 60 years, compared to 13% in control group

3. Her brother lived until 97

4. A female ancestor of hers lived until 94 (!!!) in the 1700's, which is very long

Little quirks about her as a person that could be little research questions or concord with some findings in longevity research

1. her walking speed was fast compared to people 20 years younger than her, a sign of vigor

2. she broke her leg at age 100 but healed very quickly

3. natural tendency towards happiness

4. very healthy in spite of 90+ years of smoking

5. outdoorsy type of person, very active throughout her life

6. she was proud of her 'wrist strength' when she was younger, which let her be a good shot.

7. she was always in a hurry, always walking very fast

8. mentally, she was very witty, even with the impediment of her severe deafness

9. Very oriented to time/place/caretakers even when she was blind and mostly deaf

10. She was very independent-minded: she refused cataract surgery even though its relatively low risk, and they speculate she quit smoking more because she didn't want to ask for help lighting a cigarette rather than health reasons.


Worth reading for the funny quotes, interesting anecdotes, and the copious evidence of how remarkably healthy, vigorous, and resilient she was even into her 100's! Which is remarkable even for centenarians, who don't tend to bounce back as easily as she did.