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Jeanne Kalman for many gerontologists is almost like Joan of Arc for the French. Symbol, legend, shrine. Record Joan of Arles Every true fighter against aging knows that his life expectancy is 122 years and 164 days. It was installed in 1997 and since then no one has even managed to come close to it - the second place is barely over 119 years old, and the third place is 117. Of the living centenarians, the oldest is only 115 years old. Given that after 100 years of age the annual probability of dying hovers around the 1/2 mark, the chances of a Centenarian living to be 122 years old are incredibly low.

But in gerontological circles, no one questions Zhanna’s achievement. On the contrary, she is described as “the most validated centenarian.” And indeed, everything is in order with her documents - she was born and lived all her life in one place, in the city of Arles in the south of France, and, being from a fairly wealthy bourgeois family, appears in many official sources. However, correct documents do not guarantee the absence of fraud, because someone younger may be living according to your documents. For example, your daughter.

Was there a girl?

And Zhanna had a daughter. Yvonne Marie Nicole Calment was born in 1898, when my mother was almost 23, and died, according to documents, exactly on her 36th birthday, in 1934. Moreover, the certificate of her death was issued on the basis of the testimony not of a doctor, but only of a certain unemployed 71-year-old woman who “saw her dead”:

And here's the thing, in those rare photos of Yvonne that have survived - and in her old age, Zhanna ordered all family photos to be burned - she is the one who most resembles the woman who lived until 1997. Moreover, the photo of Yvonne in her youth for some reason became the “calling card” of the youngest Jeanne, and is passed off as her even on such respected sources as Wikipedia:

Let's analyze this photo in detail. Here it is in good resolution, and slightly colored by the algorithm:

Take a look at those daring eyes opposite:

Now think about it: does this look like a photo taken in 1897, when Jeanne was 22? Or is it more like the much more progressive, if not debauched, 1920s? The facial expression and hairstyle add credibility to the second option, but I’m not an expert here. Therefore, I called for help from those who understand this, and “fashionable verdict” coincided with my assumption:

Indeed, the haircut is much more similar to the style of the 1920s. Here, for example, is the Queen Mother in 1927:

Finally, what is most interesting, in one of the biographies of Jeanne, the photo with a bow is signed precisely as “Yvonne, daughter of Jeanne,” and above it is a photo of young Jeanne, much more in line with the Victorian spirit of the late 19th century:

Several more photos of young Zhanna have been preserved:

And also a photo of Zhanna with her husband (Yvonne’s father):

Main clue

Let's now look at the mother and daughter at a more mature age; fortunately, we are lucky that one such photo has still been preserved. Here it is:

In my opinion, there can be no doubt that Yvonne is on the left and Jeanne is on the right. Here is a photo of the real Jeanne in chronological order:

It seems to me that even the dress is the same (on the left - photo from Zhanna’s ID card):

But the “girl with the bow” is, of course, Yvonne:

And if you compare the photo of young and adult Yvonne with photographs of elderly and old Zhanna, then the similarities are also visible to the naked eye:

Key photo

In my opinion, the photo above is a clue. Who is it, Jeanne or Yvonne? Because, just like in Highlander, by that time there should have been only one left. If Yvonne really died in 1934, at the age of 36, there is no way she could have looked that old.

For a full analysis, let's take a step back. Here are two interesting photos. The first one shows young Jeanne, and the second one shows young Yvonne trying to recreate the first one. It seems Yvonne liked to copy her mother from a fairly early age:

We see a clear difference in the chin and lower jaw. Yvonne also has a longer, wider neck with a more pronounced jugular fossa. Here's a close-up:

Let's now compare the photos of young Yvonne with our mystery photo. Chin, lower jaw, neck, jugular fossa — everything is very similar:

The parts circled in red and green are generally identical:

What if you compare it with Zhanna?

The woman in the middle photo has a much wider, more rounded face than Jeanne in the far right photo. Her neck is longer and wider, and her jugular notch is more pronounced.
Below I've included a photo of the old "Jeanne" along with two verified photos of the young Yvonne on the left:

When you look at these four photographs together, there is little doubt that this is all one person, and that the mysterious photograph belongs to him — Yvonne. I think everything is clear:

By the way, the shape of the old woman’s nose is more similar to the shape of Yvonne’s father’s nose than to the shape of the young Jeanne’s nose:

Well, old Zhanna doesn’t look like her younger self - neither in her nose, nor in her jaw, nor in her chin:

At the same time, we must pay tribute - Yvonne’s parents were similar to each other, which is no wonder, since they were second cousins.

Transformation motive

Okay, enough guessing from the photo, let's move on to other interesting questions. First of all, why would Yvonne need to impersonate her mother? The answer is prosaic - so that the family can avoid inheritance tax, which in 1934, at the time of the death of the real Jeanne, could reach as much as 38%. Their family could experience all the delights of this tax only a few years earlier, when Zhanna’s father died in 1931 (Zhanna’s mother died earlier in 1924).

The scale of the Kalman couple’s family store can be appreciated from the photo below. It was not just a shop, it was a large multi-storey house, which her husband, Fernand Calment, inherited from his parents, and which he headed from an early age - his father died in 1886, when he was only 18 years old. Fernand not only worked in this house, but also lived there with his mother. Zhanna also moved there after her marriage.

In the photo below, Jeanne’s husband himself is in front of the window of his store in 1907 (in the background, in a light jacket, marked with the right arrow):

This is what the son of the longest-serving employee, marked with the second arrow in the photo above, has to say about the store and the Kalman family:

My poor father, Marius Maxence, who worked in this store for 7 years before the First World War and 20 years after, was the oldest employee when the store closed. After 27 years of faithful service (and a medal of labor), he was forced to change his profession.
…
The Calment store had a very large area between Antonefle Place, rue Gambetta, rue St Esteve and rue Jean Granaud. The Rue Gambetta side was reserved for the sale of fabrics of all kinds. With large shelves up to the ceiling and ladders to access the various shelves.
…
I remember in the 1930s I came to my father's store (I lived only a hundred meters from the bridge). I played with Fredy Bilott, the grandson born of Yvonne Calment's marriage to Colonel Bilott. We were several months apart, and we hid behind banks or furniture.
…
The Calment family was well known in Arles. You could even say that this was a family of bourgeois who knew how to live, including Colonel Bilott and his wife Yvonne Calment.

My eye caught the bold line. Could an eight-year-old boy remember how well Yvonne Calment “knew how to live” if she officially died in 1934, when he was only 8 years old, like her son Fredi? Perhaps the line highlighted in bold is some kind of “Easter egg” for our own people, a kind of wink? Because this letter was written for the local Arleans Bulletin and was hardly intended for a wide audience.

By the way, it is interesting that Yvonne is no longer listed in the 1931 census. Her parents are there, as are her husband and son, everyone lives together, even the servants are accounted for, but Yvonne is not:

“Copying error,” say the validators of the authenticity of Madame Calment’s record. Well, maybe. Or maybe the real Jeanne was already dead? And Yvonne passed herself off as her father's wife, confusing census takers so much that they first recorded her under the name of her grandmother, Mary (see above). And 3 years later, Yvonne decided to officially legitimize her “death,” and chose her birthday, January 19, as the date of this very death. Quite in the spirit of a mischievous and daring lover of hunting and fencing. Okay, let's not guess, let's look at other inconsistencies.

van Gogh

One of the inconsistencies is related to Van Gogh, about whom old lady Kalman spoke very unflatteringly, calling him “an ugly, rude, fumes-smelling brothel-loving guy.” Allegedly, Zhanna crossed paths with him in their family store in 1888 and even sold him either paints or pencils. Moreover, in some sources, for some reason, the owner of the store is called Zhanna’s father, and in others, his uncle. But Zhanna’s parents did not have any store; her father was a hereditary shipbuilder, and a very successful and wealthy one. The store was owned by Jeanne's second cousin (the father of her future husband), and even he had been dead for 2 years in 1888 - the year when Van Gogh came to Arles for 15 months.

In any case, it’s somehow difficult for me to imagine a 13-year-old girl from a wealthy bourgeois family working behind a store counter in 1888. At least, neither Jeanne nor Yvonne worked a day in their adult lives. By the way, according to the validators, at that time Zhanna was supposed to be studying at a Catholic boarding school (Benet private boarding school) - it would be interesting to confirm this data in the school’s archival documents, and at the same time look at the daily routine of the students.

In another interview in 1989, Jeanne claimed that her husband introduced her to Van Gogh in his store when he came in to buy canvases there. So he said: “Look, this is my wife!” Considering that Jeanne was only 13 years old in 1888, this sounds strange. But her future husband (and Yvonne’s father) most likely worked in the store at that time - he was 20 years old, and after the death of his father, it was quite logical that he took over the management of the family business. Perhaps he once told his wife and daughter about his meeting with Van Gogh, and Jeanne then began to attribute this meeting to herself.

Worst insurance deal of the century

It was in the building where the Calment family shop was located until 1937 that in 1965 “Jeanne” used her apartment for “the worst insurance deal of the century” - pledging to transfer it after death to a certain Andre-Francois Raffray in exchange for an obligation to pay her a lifetime monthly pension at 2500 francs. Over the next 30-odd years, Raffret paid Zhanna an amount much greater than the cost of the apartment, and never received the coveted living space, dying of cancer. Moreover, payments to Zhanna did not stop after his death.

By the way, it is curious that this case is described in Jean-Pierre Daniel’s book “Insurance and Its Secrets” as a scam known in narrow circles of insurers. Here's what he writes:

Everyone remembers that Jeanne Calment officially died at the age of 122, on August 4, 1997. It was said at the time that this lady had a life annuity, and this is true. This rent was provided by a large French company, which was not pleased with such exceptional longevity. Moreover, the company understood perfectly well that it was not paying Jeanne Calment, but her daughter. In fact, after the death of the true Jeanne Calment, her daughter, who was no longer a child herself at that point, took on her mother's identity in order to continue receiving an annuity. The insurance company discovered identity theft, but with consent - or on demand? - the authorities did not make this public, since the “elder of the French” was a legend.

About “took the identity of her mother, to continue receiving rent“The author clearly screwed up, since Zhanna began receiving rent only in 1965, 31 years after the death of her daughter-mother. It is also not entirely clear how exactly the obligations to pay the annuity, which Raffray assumed, were secured by the insurance company, although it is quite possible that he decided to hedge his risk and insured Zhanna’s life in advance in a special way, which provided for more than a one-time payment after her death, and monthly payments before- starting, say, from 100 years.

More and more wonderful

But let's return to Zhanna herself. Another interesting circumstance is that after Yvonne’s death in 1934, her husband, who was 43 years old at that time, never remarried, and until the end of his days he continued to live with his “mother-in-law” and his son in the same house. This, of course, does not prove anything, but at least it does not contradict the hypothesis that Yvonne did not die, but simply began to impersonate her mother.

In 1942, Yvonne's father and Jeanne's husband died from cherry poisoning, and in 1963, Jeanne's grandson and son-in-law (or Yvonne's son and husband) died. After this, Zhanna led a rather quiet, if not secretive, life. Even on her 100th birthday, she refused the offer of the mayor of Arles to organize a public celebration of this very rare achievement. The mayor himself recalled very interesting details:

“When I learned that the man from Arles was turning 100 years old,” said Jacques, “I had to, according to tradition, go to her house, inviting her family, and bring a gift. It was a refusal, polite but firm. Madame Calment did not want a ceremony: no drums, no trumpets, no gifts, no cake. She was assured that no one would know about her centenary. Then Zhanna agreed to come to the mayor’s office herself. I waited for Zhanna in the reception room for a long time, until it turned out that one of the women sitting which looked difficult to give more than eighty, and was the hero of the day.”

Professional gerontologists who studied her phenomenon were also amazed at Jeanne’s paradoxical preservation. Her ability to stand and move without assistance at 113 years old was surprising:

Moreover, at 114 years old, her height was 150 cm, which was only 2 cm less than her reported height as an adult:
Sometimes Zhanna seemed to let it slip in her memories, either calling her husband her father, or saying that her mother’s surname Gilles was the surname of her grandmother, although Zhanna did not have a grandmother with that surname, only a grandfather (in those days, wives did not take their husband’s surname ). One of these mistakes was when Zhanna said that as a child she was taken to school by the maid Martha Fusson, although, according to the 1911 census, Martha Fusson was born 10 years old Later Only Yvonne, with whom she lived together, could take Jeanne to school, according to the same census.

Of course, every single error in recollection or inconsistency in Jeanne’s biography could be attributed to chance. But taken together, they all make you, at a minimum, want to understand much more deeply into the biography of this extraordinary woman. I hope the gerontological community will support this idea and not perceive it as sacrilege.

In conclusion, I want to say that almost the entire evidence base on which this material is based is the merit of

Centenarian from France Jeanne Calment is considered the oldest person on earth in history; she lived 122 years.
Jeanne Kalman herself jokingly said that she lived for a long time due to her heavy dependence on chocolate, olive oil, cigarettes and cheap red wine.
As paradoxical as it may sound, Jeanne Kalman spent her entire life using something that doctors prohibit if you want to live a long life. She smoked, she drank, she ate excessive amounts of sugar and red meat, and she never ate breakfast except for a cup or two of coffee.


She lived 122 years, five months and 14 days.

Throughout her long, long life (from her birth in 1875 to her death in 1997), Jeanne Calment broke several records, all of them after she had spent a century on earth.

At 111, she became the oldest living person in France, and at 113, the oldest living person in the world. At the age of 114, she became the oldest actress to ever act in film, appearing in an episode of the 1990 film Vincent and Me. At 116, she became the first person to ever live to 116, and at 120, she became the oldest person whose age was documented, and also released her first music album, a funk/rap track called "Mistress of Time." . Finally, in 122, she was awarded the title of oldest person.

Jeanne Kalman first gained fame when she turned 111 years old. In an interview about her shocking age, she said that she moved into a nursing home a year ago, and that she lived alone until she was 109.


Jeanne Kalman on her 120th birthday.

Every day of her old age, from about 85 years old, she woke up at 6:45 a.m. and began her day with prayer. Then she sat in her chair and did gymnastics with headphones on, which included exercises for her arms and legs, as well as flexion and extension of her fingers. Then she took a shower without assistance and rubbed her body with olive oil.

For lunch she had beef stew (she didn’t like fish, which was healthier) and a cigarette with a glass of wine. She loved fried spicy food. She ate dessert until she was 116 - usually about two pounds of chocolate a week.

I consumed a lot of olive oil, believing that it contributed to health and longevity.

Throughout her time in the nursing home, she participated in several supercenter studies in which doctors noted that she was very active, sane, and generally healthier than those who were 10 to 20 years younger than her.

When Jeanne Calment died, aged 122, she weighed 40 kg and, despite being almost completely blind, was relatively healthy considering her age.
She ate sweets and drank cheap red wine until her death in 1997, and only a year before that she quit smoking, explaining that after eye surgery, she began to see very poorly, she could not light a cigarette herself, and it was inconvenient to ask anyone.

An amazing woman, one of the oldest people, who lived in the world for almost 123 years.

Jeanne Louise Calment was born on February 21, 1875 in Arles, where she lived all her life. Her father was a shipbuilder.

Zhanna got married at the age of 21 - in 1896. They lived together until 1942 - until the death of their husband (he died under strange circumstances, after eating a dessert with cherries that were spoiled, as it later turned out).

In 1898, the couple had a daughter, Yvonne, who in 1926 gave her parents a grandson, Frederick.

Fate wanted Zhanna to outlive not only her husband, but also her own daughter (who died of pneumonia at the age of 36), and her grandson (who died in a car accident in 1963). On the other hand, Jeanne Calment's parents turned out to be real long-livers - her father lived 93 years, her mother 86 years, and her brother, Francois, managed to live to 9

7 years of age.

At all times, Jeanne Calment led an active lifestyle. For example, she began learning fencing in her nineties, and rode a bicycle until she was almost a hundred years old.

In 1965, at the age of ninety, Jeanne Kalman was left completely alone. She had no heirs and the long-liver had to sell the apartment on her own. Then she decided on the so-called “reverse mortgage” - an agreement that is often practiced in France. The contract was signed with the lawyer François Raffet, who bought the Calman property in installments and had to pay her a certain amount annually. As usual, such payments do not last more than ten years, but not in the case of Jeanne Kalman. The woman lived much longer. And she even survived Raffe, who died of an incurable disease in 1995

oh disease. After his death, the lawyer's widow was forced to continue making payments and more than once regretted such an unsuccessful deal.

Indeed, Zhanna could boast of excellent health. She smoked all her life and quit the habit at age 117, just five years before her death. She never refused good wine and delicious food, ate garlic and plenty of vegetables. Whenever possible, Zhanna avoided noisy quarrels and other conflicts.

Until she was 110 years old, the centenarian lived in her own home, after which she decided to move to a nursing home. She remained active there.

Jeanne Calment was in excellent shape until she was 114 years and 11 months old when she fell and broke her hip. Afterwards it was difficult for her to walk.

And yet Kalman managed to live to be 122 years old.

This elderly woman certainly deserves to have her name appear in the Guinness Book of Records. And not only because she topped the TOP of the oldest ladies on the planet. Jeanne Calment made one of the most unusual transactions in the field of commerce. What is known about this long-liver, who did not always lead a healthy lifestyle and, despite this, managed to reach the age limit of 122 years? Let's consider this issue in more detail.

Years of childhood and youth

Jeanne Louise Calment is a native of Arles, located in southeastern France. She was born on February 21, 1875. Zhanna's father was engaged in the construction of ships and was part of the government structures of the city. Already in childhood, the future centenarian learned the value of money. She helped her father run the business in the store. It was there that she saw the famous Dutch landscape painter Vincent Van Gogh.

However, the thirteen-year-old girl did not like the artist’s appearance. Her impressions of him were negative: “ugly, rude and unkempt.”

Marriage

Jeanne Calment in her youth marries her second cousin Fernand Nicolas. The husband was engaged in business (owned a store), so the need to work for the future centenarian disappeared. Soon the girl developed a lot of hobbies: swimming, cycling, playing the piano, attending opera concerts, and so on. At the beginning of 1898, Jeanne Calment gives birth to her daughter Yvonne. Initially, their family lived in the same house with their mother-in-law, and only in 1906 did the centenarian, along with her husband and daughter, receive a separate apartment located on St. Easteve Street.

Tragedies

Jeanne's daughter in 1926 became the wife of a military man, Joseph Charles Frederic Billiot.

Soon Zhanna Kalman becomes a grandmother: she has a grandson, Frederic. In the early 30s, the centenarian experiences severe grief: her daughter Yvonne dies of pneumonia. Zhanna Kalman devotes herself entirely to raising her grandson. In 1942, grief came knocking on her life again: her husband Fernand died. Grandson Frederick enters medical school. The young man gets married, and in 1963 something bad happens to him: he dies in a car accident. And a few months later, death overtakes Zhanna’s son-in-law. Even her only niece, who was only 21 years old, passed away. So she was left alone, without family and friends. Kalman did not like to remember the deaths of relatives: the pain of loss was too acute.

Unusual deal

Until now, this agreement is considered one of the most odious in the history of jurisprudence. Jeanne Kalman, whose biography contains many interesting and remarkable facts, concluded it when she was already 90 years old. She acted as a seller in the transaction. Lawyer Francois Raffet was on the buyer's side. The object of the purchase and sale agreement was an apartment in Arles. The essence of the deal was as follows: the buyer assumed the obligation to pay Jeanne Calment 2.5 thousand French francs every month.

In return, the lawyer became the owner of the property, but only after the death of the centenarian. The average cost of an apartment was equivalent to ten years of payments. But, as it turned out, after the deal was concluded, Jeanne Louise Kalman lived for another 32 years, but the beneficiary never lived in the “Arlevs” apartment, since he died two years before the death of the centenarian. During this period, the lawyer’s wife paid the money. The French woman Jeanne Calment did not leave this situation without comment: “Sometimes bad deals happen in life.” In turn, the wife of the late lawyer noted that the long-lived woman was a person with a capital P. She emphasized that Francois Raffet and Jeanne Louise Calment, whose biography certainly deserves separate consideration, maintained the warmest friendly relations.

The centennial anniversary is behind us

In 1975, the long-lived woman celebrated her centenary. Ten years after that, Kalman moved to a nursing home. The reason for this act turned out to be banal: a fire broke out in her home, and it was her fault. She was preparing food when the fire occurred. After such an emergency, Jeanne Louise Kalman, whose biography is familiar to a huge number of French people, no longer wanted to stay in her own apartment. The woman, having overcome the age threshold of 110 years, began to actively communicate with journalists and representatives of science.

In particular, she had a lot of contact with Dr. Michel Allard, who specialized in longevity issues. In addition, she gave interviews to demographer Jean-Marie Robin and physician Victor Lebret. Scientist George Garoyan also became interested in Kalman’s unique age. At the end of the 80s, his dissertation on the longevity of a French woman from Arles was completed.

Honorary title

In 1988, Kalman was awarded the title of “The Oldest Living Person on the Planet.” At that time she was 113 years old. But she failed to hold this title for long. Her competitor, Carrie White, temporarily took it away. Then Jeanne Louise decided to draw attention to her person by the fact that she was personally acquainted with the artist Van Gogh. In 1990, she even starred in an episode of the film about the famous landscape painter “Vincent and Me.” Kalman played on the set at the age of 114. The Frenchwoman soon became the "Oldest Living Person on the Planet" once again as Carrie White passed away. She held this honorary title for 6.5 years.

In the winter of 1995, the centenarian turned 120 years old. Naturally, the press wrote about such an extraordinary event in great detail. A documentary film was made about Calment called "Jeanne Calment, doyenne du monde". And in 1996, a music disc appeared on sale, which was based on several rap compositions performed by Kalman.

Lifestyle

It is noteworthy that the French woman from Arles did not adhere to a healthy lifestyle.

Until the age of 95, she suffered from nicotine addiction, and only at the age of 117 after surgery was she forced to quit smoking. She smoked two cigarettes a day. At the same time, scientists noted that Jeanne Louise Kalman is perhaps the only one of the centenarians who has a bad habit.

What's the secret?

Ordinary people put forward their own version of why the woman from Arles does not die for so long. In their opinion, the reason for longevity is the special diet that Kalman adheres to. It was based on wine and chocolate.

But representatives of the scientific community explained the phenomenon of the French woman with her positive attitude towards life. Its essence boiled down to the phrase: “If you are unable to change anything, then leave everything as it is.” At the same time, Jeanne Louise herself expressed a version of why she lives so long. The woman said: her secret is that almost every day she eats fruits and salads dressed exclusively with olive oil.

One way or another, the Frenchwoman had the main prerequisites for longevity, with the exception of nicotine addiction. Firstly, Kalman had good genetics, and secondly, she was a woman (as you know, the fairer sex lives longer than men). Thirdly, the French woman did not have a tendency to be overweight and was actively involved in sports (fencing, cycling). To all this it should be added that Jeanne Kalman preferred to walk a lot in nature and enjoyed visiting.

Scientists, in turn, noted that the first sign that a person can live more than a hundred years is good genetics. But most of the relatives of the French phenomenon lived to the “above average” level.

last years of life

According to demographer Jean-Marie Robin, the centenarian, shortly before her death, was in excellent spirits and did not complain of any physical ailments, except that she had almost completely lost the ability to see and hear. When Jeanne Calment was 115 years old, she fell down the stairs and injured her hip, ending up in a wheelchair. Scientist Karen Ritchie analyzed the mental and mental state of the centenarian every six months. And, as it turned out, Jeanne Kalman did not lose clarity of mind and reason until the end of her days. Even in her old age, the Frenchwoman easily solved mathematical problems and recited poetry by heart.

Death

This is how Jeanne Kalman turned out to be such an unusual and mysterious phenomenon. How many years did she live?

One hundred twenty-two years, five months and two weeks. The long-liver died on August 4, 1997. Nursing home officials said she died of natural causes. The death of the Frenchwoman came as a surprise and a real shock to the residents of Arles.

The story of the unsurpassed Jeanne Kalman, who lived 122 years! Frenchwoman Jeanne Louise Calment, who was born on February 21, 1875 and died in August 1997, holds the official world record for life expectancy. Kalman survived two world wars, 17 presidents, a fire in her own house and met with the same Van Gogh. This amazing woman never lost heart, treated everything with humor and enjoyed life every day. She lived so brightly and interestingly that death did not want to take her.

A few facts from the life of the unsurpassed Jeanne Kalman. She is a native Frenchwoman, born in Orly into an aristocratic family. When Jeanne was 8, Edison had just invented the light bulb. When she was 14, the Eiffel Tower was built. At 21 she married a distant relative. It's hard to believe, but once in her youth Jeanne met Van Gogh. “He was dirty, poorly dressed and gloomy,” she admitted in an interview on the 100th anniversary of the great artist’s birth.

Many people don’t live to see 85, but Jeanne Kalman not only lived to see it, but it was at this age that she began fencing. Aren't you surprised? When she was a century old, this granny rode a bicycle. At the age of 115 she received a role in the film, and at 121 she took part in the musical “Mistress of the Planet.” “I only have one wrinkle, and I’m sitting on it!” - the great-grandmother of the planet once said. By the way, Zhanna only quit smoking at the age of 117 and gave up her daily appetizer before dinner. Relatives say that until her last days she loved hot seasonings and spicy dishes. “I’m in love with wine,” Kalman liked to repeat.

Ironically, Jeanne outlived all her children and even her grandchildren, so she had no heirs. At the age of 90, she entered into an agreement with the 47-year-old lawyer Raffrey: he was to inherit her house in exchange for paying her monthly rent until his death. According to calculations, the value of the house was approximately equal to the amount that the lawyer had to pay within 10 years. However, even here fortune smiled on Jeanne: Raffrey not only paid her for 30 long years, but also died before the super-old woman at the age of 77. That's not all: according to the agreement, the widow of the deceased continued to make payments.

Kalman outlived 17 (!) presidents of her own country. When asked what the secret of her longevity was, she answered, thinking: “Probably that I never worked.” For the last seven years of her life, it was very difficult for her to walk (a hip injury was making itself felt), but this mega-grandmother maintained a clear mind and a bright memory until the end of her days. In one of the interviews, the correspondent said goodbye to her: “See you!” Maybe next year...” To which Kalman replied: “Why not? You don’t look that bad!” Until her last breath, this fragile and daring old lady remained a style icon: a white blouse, black trousers, and a string of pearls always adorned her neck. “It seems to me that I will die of laughter,” suggested the cheerful grandmother. When Zhanna left this world at the 123rd year of her life, apparently not only she laughed, but also fate itself. This woman never lost heart and challenged life every day. And fate, as you know, loves the brave, that’s why I didn’t undertake to compete with Kalman... Tell all your friends about this cool old lady: let them also know the secrets of the longevity of the one whom all of France knew...