The world record lifespan is the 122 years claimed for Jeanne Calment, a Frenchwoman who died in 1997. Strangely, after more than two decades, she still remains the oldest survivor ever, and by a substantial margin. (Indeed, the margin is so big as to be suspicious; her age and even her identity are in question.) The second-oldest supercentenarian died at 119, in 1999, and since that time there have been no survivors beyond the 117th year.
