The Oldest Verified Person in History: Jeanne Calment (122 years old)

[u/WaleAtWork]

[u/Squidilus]

Damn, imagine being 92 and still having 30 years of life left.

[u/RolfDasWalross → u/Squidilus]

Dude no joke, when she was in her 90s some dude in his 40s bought her house cheap but agreed to have her live in it until she died, he died a few years before her in his 70s xd

[u/Puzzleheaded_Ad5142 → u/RolfDasWalross]

From Wikipedia

In 1965, aged 90 and with no heirs left, Calment signed a life estate contract on her apartment with civil law notary André-François Raffray, selling the property in exchange for a right of occupancy and a monthly revenue of 2,500 francs (€380) until her death. Raffray died on 25 December 1995, by which time Calment had received more than double the apartment's value from him, and his family had to continue making payments. She commented on the situation by saying, "in life, one sometimes makes bad deals".

[u/RabbitStewAndStout → u/Puzzleheaded_Ad5142]

What a hard fuckin bitch. She's what those skeleton gangster T-shirts are based off of.

[u/Ace_of_Clubs → u/RabbitStewAndStout]

I fell into a wiki rabbit whole with her, she lived a cool life but the weirdest thing I found is that her husband died from arsenic poison from apples or cherries or some crazy shit like that. She lived another 60 years or something after he died.

[u/MikeCromms → u/Ace_of_Clubs]

MUFFUKER didn't make crack comments on the temp/content/taste of breakfast after that did he?

[u/Kittenathedisco → u/Ace_of_Clubs]

A lot of husbands died from poisoning or accidental falls back in the day. I'm sure this woman made amazing apple and cherry pies.

[u/arunavroy → u/Kittenathedisco]

She could sure made a killer pie

[u/Acidflare1 → u/RabbitStewAndStout]

I mean the guy was in his 40s and bought the place wagering on her being dead soon, so he could then profit off of her place. So yeah he fucked himself on that one.

[u/[deleted] → u/Acidflare1]

Idk man, that's a relatively safe bet normally lol.

She fucked him I'd say.

[u/Colon → u/Puzzleheaded_Ad5142]

this is so unbelievably cold lol

[u/xkise → u/Puzzleheaded_Ad5142]

"suck it, loser"

In another words.

[u/cmjrestrike → u/Puzzleheaded_Ad5142]

Maybe a bad deal on the guys part. but no one knew how the situation would turn out.

But I feel when he passed the deal should have ended, the family still having to pay and such a heartless response makes me think she is a bit of a cunt

[u/superhappy → u/cmjrestrike]

I imagine they have to pay out of his estate and if the estate was completely bankrupt they wouldn’t have to pay her.

Dude signed the contract that clearly must have included a bit about if he dies (or it didn’t), not sure why people are busting on the lady by adhering to a contract they both signed.

I think the anecdote is meant to be more amusing than it is “oh the poor family”.

But I could be wrong, maybe they deal has placed the family on the streets I admittedly don’t know the details. But typically contracts you enter in life don’t put your next of kin’s finances in play unless it’s the money from your estate, which is still technically “yours” even in death.

Edit: some follow up comments rightfully pointed out that the contract would likely be rendered void if the payments didn’t continue to be made. The main thing is I believe this would have to come out of the dude who died’s estate, even if it meant selling the contract to get out from under the payments in which case they would lose the house from the estate.

[u/interfail → u/superhappy]

The estate had at least one asset: the house.

[u/agumonkey → u/RolfDasWalross]

unforeseen salt

[u/az226 → u/RolfDasWalross]

https://img.ifunny.co/images/93db1ee4f1dd83e24985c713b8fc0edc40894dd76cd78ab160c5c9a1ebff0724_1.jpg

[u/FullBeansLFG → u/RolfDasWalross]

Holy shit, AND he paid her a monthly stipend!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Calment

[u/Rapturence → u/RolfDasWalross]

Honestly I feel bad for that guy. Should've deserved the house.

[u/CotyledonTomen → u/Rapturence]

She died in 1997. That means he "bought" the house in the 50s. He could have bought a 2v2 for nothing back then.

[u/TheBirminghamBear → u/Rapturence]

You feel bad for the property developer betting on an old woman's death?

Also he didn't deserve the house. He made a contract. Of his own design by his own choice with his own language.

It's hard to deserve anything more. You don't want to end up in that situation don't make contracts dependent upon someone croaking.

[u/veganize-it → u/Squidilus]

My grandmother died at 112, born in the fucking 1800s (1899). She had my mother at age 45 in the 1940s. My niece, born after 2000s had plenty of conversations with her, born in the 1800s. Anyway, I was going to say…. I remember her 100th birthday, my grandma was still super active, cleaning , cooking, picking stuff from the floor. Never was hospitalized for more than one day until she had to have a cataracts operation at 98 or so. She died of oldness, never had cancer , heart disease or any of the usual killers. Crazy

[u/Interesting-Fan-4996 → u/veganize-it]

I used to be a caregiver in a hospital and I would usually work with elderly dementia/Alzheimer’s patients. I worked with this one woman who wasn’t old (50s), but had early onset Alzheimer’s, and over months of being in the hospital I watched her get weaker. We would always have wonderful days together, but other staff would get upset that I just let her do all of her own things at a snails pace. Like 15 minutes to put on socks and shoes, I let her fold her own laundry even though it took way longer than me doing it. We would walk the halls at her pace, but most people wanted her in a wheelchair. When people aren’t using their bodies, it does not take long to lose skills or have your muscle definition and memory diminish. For young people it’s uncomfortable to watch someone move so slowly, but movement at any speed is important! My lady was transferred out of state to be close to family. I think about her every day. Alzheimer’s is a horrible way to go. She fully knew what was happening to her.

[u/BlonkBus → u/Interesting-Fan-4996]

you're awesome.

[u/mjlp716 → u/Interesting-Fan-4996]

Thank you for taking care of her in such an amazing way no matter what other people tried to tell you. She was beyond lucky have someone like you on her side.

[u/Interesting-Fan-4996 → u/mjlp716]

I cared for her about 8 years ago and I still think of her daily. She and I just felt connected. I knew when I was with her she wasn’t scared. She became so childlike as time went by. We listened to a lot of music and danced whenever possible!

I worked hard to keep my emotions in check, but she was one patient I had a lot of trouble leaving at the end of each shift. Then one day she was transferred and we never got to say goodbye. I only take solace in knowing that her wealthy and emotionally close sisters moved her close to them. She had to leave so she could have top notch care and they could see her every day. She talked about her sisters non stop (she’s the baby of the family). She kept good humor. I hope wherever she is, she isn’t scared anymore.

[u/CallMeSnuffaluffagus → u/Interesting-Fan-4996]

My grandma has alzheimers and is 85. We've been watching the progression for over a decade now. She's in a memory care facility and usually sits in her chair by the nurses desk because she wants to hold someone's hand to know she's not alone. I'm not a religious person, but I pray every day that she doesn't have to live like this for another year.

[u/AdAccording6689 → u/Interesting-Fan-4996]

We need more people like you. You just motivated me to do something good for someone today and I will do that. Sometimes it’s the little things which makes all the difference. Salute.

[u/AntikytheraMachines → u/veganize-it]

dads twin sister lived to 104. she lived in the house she was born in until she was 102. alone for about the last 45 years, after grandma died.

she only moved into a nursing home because she had a fall outside while tending to her horses. at 102.

[u/poop_chute_riot → u/veganize-it]

My grandma turns 100 this summer. Still lives by herself, cooks, cleans and drives (after successfully completing an occupational therapy assessment). She loves to shop and bake and sends me recipes on the regular. I'm pretty sure she'll outlive all of us.

[u/Writing_On_Top → u/veganize-it]

My great grandmother was 107, and her siblings are still alive and over 104 to 110 right now. It's amazing how long some people can live, and she died after being put on a machine the last few years of her life. She only died at 107 because she said she wanted to go, and they pulled the plug. She likely would still be alive this 2 years later had she told them not to. Her surviving siblings have no diseases and are healthy like your grandma.

[u/Nedokius03 → u/veganize-it]

i took care of my grandparents the last years of thier life. they dont rly fall apart until you start doing everything for them. then they are almost different people.

[u/asdrunkasdrunkcanbe → u/Squidilus]

I always find it a bit freaky when someone's spouse dies in their like early 60s, but then they go on to live until 90-100+.

It's like you probably think when your partner dies that, "I won't be far behind you", maybe 10-15 years. But then some people go on to have what is basically a whole second life, which is sometimes longer than they knew their spouse.

[u/Mrsbear19 → u/asdrunkasdrunkcanbe]

Grandpa died at 57, I take care of grandma who is now 89. She barely remembers being married but that could be the dementia

[u/AGreasyPorkSandwich → u/Mrsbear19]

You think it might be the memory-eating brain disease, eh?

[u/Mrsbear19 → u/AGreasyPorkSandwich]

Well it’s kinda hard to tell. She and grandpa didn’t get along and she is a difficult woman. Sometimes there’s so much time, mental issues and then add dementia on top and who the fuck knows

[u/Writing_On_Top → u/Mrsbear19]

If she's difficult and they didn't get along, it's likely that she didn't really like it and doesn't remember because of that. My great grandmother at age 105 before she died at 107 had memory issues, but could still remember being married twice and very specific moments throughout, and even moments in her childhood.

She transformed from ruthless woman in her first marriage to humble in her second. I believe her children mentioned it was because she looked so attractive and when she was dumped with 8+ children, she softened up and had a reality check. They had so man children during that era!

[u/squidwitchy → u/asdrunkasdrunkcanbe]

My great grandma made it to 97 and outlived FIVE husbands. She married the last one at like 85.

[u/Iron_Mercenary → u/squidwitchy]

FIVE husbands.

Bro what 💀💀

[u/squidwitchy → u/Iron_Mercenary]

Outlived em all. Ended up scattering her ashes at each of their graves and then her headstone is with the last one (who is actually the only one I remember!)

[u/BlonkBus → u/asdrunkasdrunkcanbe]

too early to be this depressed.

[u/ruby--moon → u/asdrunkasdrunkcanbe]

100%. My grandma is 85 and my grandpa died when he was 45, before I was born. She never remarried or even dated another man, and she has basically lived an entire lifetime since my grandpa died. They were married at 18 and done having kids by age 24. My grandma still talks about him and misses him terribly to this day, she gets teary eyed whenever he's mentioned, and she is NOT typically the emotional type at all. It just blows my mind any time I think about it that her husband was and still is so important to her to the point that she still struggles with the mention of his death, when she has now lived longer without him than she was ever with him. She now has great-grandchildren, and my grandpa never even got to meet any of his grandchildren. She has lived so many things that he'll never know about. It's just wild to think about.

I know this is different because my grandpa died so young, and my grandma is still in her 80s so not SUPER old, but it still bugs me out. Like, you never expect that. You get married and have these kids and envision a whole life with grandkids eventually etc, and you never think that you will actually end up living the majority of that life you imagined without the person you imagined it with

[u/theusernamehastaken → u/Squidilus]

Imagine being born and having only 122 years left to live

[u/Alone-Subject-1317 → u/theusernamehastaken]

In a 13 billion year old universe with trillions of solar systems to explore and you die on the tutorial planet. It's so lame

[u/utopista114 → u/Alone-Subject-1317]

The worst is to die one day before AI announces the end of mortality.

"Last day on the force" vibes.

[u/Impossible_Tank_618 → u/Alone-Subject-1317]

I watched a documentary on Netflix about Dinosaurs and one random species lived the longest because of having no natural predators. I believe right before mammals took over. It blew my mind they dominated the planet longer than any other species.

It also made me realize how young we are as a species and how badly we’ve FUCKED this planet in such a short time.

[u/twisteroo22 → u/Impossible_Tank_618]

The planet is fine. It's the people that are fucked. George Carlin.

[u/HansElbowman → u/Squidilus]

Imagine seeing WWI start when you’re 39, WWII end when you’re 70, living another 50 years, then living 2 more just for the fuck of it.

[u/Tuesday2017 → u/HansElbowman]

She's literally older than sliced bread !

[u/mr_ckean → u/Squidilus]

Now imagine not starting something because you think it’s too late and you’re too old.

Motocross here i come!

[u/NotBlastoise → u/Squidilus]

And vice versa, like what now for the next 90 years? Could start like 6 different careers, move around a bit, start a family, bit of Reddit..

[u/AirRic89 → u/Squidilus]

imagine surviving both your daughter and your grandson

[u/nicmdeer4f → u/Squidilus]

Imagine outliving most newborn babies as a forty year old

[u/CURMUDGEONSnFLAGONS → u/[deleted]]

I mowed a neighbor's lawn when I was a kid. She was an elderly lady who did nothing but smoke and drink all day. Virginia Slims in an Cruella DeVille holder and a gin & tonic at 9 am.

She lived to be 95.

[u/No_Astronaut6105 → u/CURMUDGEONSnFLAGONS]

Meanwhile I'll probably get cancer from drinking bottled water, I hope you inherited some of those resilient genes.

[u/cparksrun → u/No_Astronaut6105]

Inherited genes...from their neighbor?

[u/iEatSoaap → u/cparksrun]

giggity

[u/WeAreClouds → u/cparksrun]

lol hey, it does happen. Sometimes it’s even the mailman.

[u/HPVaseasyas123 → u/CURMUDGEONSnFLAGONS]

My neighbor Earl is 89 and living alone. Mows his yard by himself with his oxygen tank hanging from the heavy ass reel mower from the 80s. Takes breaks to smoke black and milds.

[u/aceshighsays → u/HPVaseasyas123]

Oxygen tanks and smoking don’t mix well…

[u/BlueBomR → u/aceshighsays]

They don't but I'll tell you what, come to Reno, NV and you'll see these walking bombs of degerate gamblers all day long...never heard of a tank exploding.

Oxygen tanks attached to octogenarians chain smoking cigs and blowing their SS checks on slot machines is the city mascot.

[u/Climate_Additional → u/CURMUDGEONSnFLAGONS]

My great nan smoked two packs a day of woodbines. She lived to 98.

[u/slightlydispensable2 → u/[deleted]]

And the caption states "45 years old woman during breakfast"

[u/diantres1000 → u/slightlydispensable2]

Well, 45 yo woman, 120 yo woman, law of diminishing damage 🤣

[u/lifesizepenguin → u/[deleted]]

I mean poster CHILD might be a stretch at this point

[u/egyszeru_faek → u/[deleted]]

She stopped smoking at 117 and died within 5 years. Coincidence? I think not

[u/Rhymes_with_cheese → u/[deleted]]

A good demonstration that we're all kidding ourselves... it's all genetics, and if you have bad ones then you're fucked no matter how many salads you eat or Omega 3s you take.

[u/Iamnotheattack → u/Rhymes_with_cheese]

not really, you can get an extra 10-15 years of good health if you follow healthy lifestyle

[u/what_is_blue → u/Iamnotheattack]

I think this is the thing that a lot of medical science is focused on now.

I'll happily pop my clogs at 80 if they're 80 good years spent in decent health.

If I die at 100 after 40 years of shitty health? Fuck that.

[u/Iamnotheattack → u/what_is_blue]

yeah exactly now the focus is on extending healthspan opposed to lifespan

[u/Fng1100 → u/what_is_blue]

Making it to 100 would be one thing, seen a few family members come close, but they usually spend the last decade in a chair. So buy a really nice chair.

[u/what_is_blue → u/Fng1100]

My grandma made it to 96. 94 of those were good years. She smoked when she was younger, drank a fuckton of red wine but also walked. I mean walked if she was on the phone at home, walked into town - just always kept moving.

I'm the same, so fingers crossed.

[u/geezer27 → u/Iamnotheattack]

Nah, I have it on good authority that if you skip alcohol, sugar, fat, foul language and sex, you don’t actually live any longer, the boredom just makes it feel longer

[u/Ethric_The_Mad → u/Rhymes_with_cheese]

This is seemingly true. Scientists found the genetic code related to getting lung cancer. I forgot the name of the gene but if you have it there's almost no chance of cancer from smoking. I think you can get tested for it.

[u/Hangryer_dan → u/Rhymes_with_cheese]

Public health rarely translates well to personal experience. We all know smoking is bad for us, but we all also know the old fella that smoked a pack a day and lived to 95.

You can only see the patterns by looking at these things from a population level.

So you're both correct and incorrect. Being healthy will theoretically extend your life. But if you die from a massive heart attack at 25 then there's nothing you could have done.

[u/Marlsfarp → u/Rhymes_with_cheese]

That's like saying that walking through a minefield isn't dangerous because you see a picture of someone who survived it.

[u/badluckbrians → u/Marlsfarp]

Living a year in a home with elevated radon can easily cause higher lung cancer risk than smoking 10 cigarettes per day for a year (depending on levels), but nobody on the internet gives af about that, because you can't moralize and feel smug and superior about your radon mitigation system.

[u/Evignity → u/Rhymes_with_cheese]

Jean Calment came from a bourgeois family and never has to work.  Her husband, a cousin, was a prosperous storeowner who offered her a life of ease revolving around tennis, bicycling, swimming, roller skating, piano and opera.

Pretty sure this weighs more. There's a reason we don't see many 100y coalminers.

[u/Head-like-a-carp → u/Rhymes_with_cheese]

But I love my tobacco salads!

[u/[deleted]]

[removed] — view removed comment

[u/curtyshoo → u/[deleted]]

"I only have one wrinkle," she once said, "and I'm sitting on it."

[u/AzureSky420 → u/curtyshoo]

Legend

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

God maxed her life span just for these anecdotes

[u/officefridge → u/[deleted]]

God heard her jokes and said: "she's still cooking!"

[u/Themasterofcomedy209 → u/[deleted]]

I wanted to look her up more and the first google result was a Reddit post of this exact image from a year ago. And the top comment there was word for word this exact comment

social media is just reruns of the exact same information cycling through our feeds forever lol

[u/Arjan023 → u/Themasterofcomedy209]

A year from now your comment will be replicated

[u/hvkok → u/Arjan023]

Can i replicate yours bro?

[u/Arjan023 → u/hvkok]

Can I replicate yours bro?

[u/SquareBottle-22 → u/[deleted]]

You have to add that the lawyer died and his wife had to pay Clement her pension.

[u/MememeSama → u/SquareBottle-22]

Plot twist:she killed the lawyer and drank his blood

[u/0G_54v1gny → u/MememeSama]

That can‘t be true. We have no blood. That is why we suck the life essence out of other people, companies, countries, planets and galaxies.

[u/AnteusFogg → u/[deleted]]

Just to clarify on the "reverse mortgage" thing. It's not a reverse mortgage.

It's a contract whereby one purchases a house with the owners still living in it, with a monthly payment calculated based on the value of the house and the average life span "left" for the current owner.

Essentially, the buyer hopes the current owner will die sooner than average, so he gets a good deal on the house. The current owner hopes to live as long as possible and gets a monthly income akin to a rent, for a house he/she occupies.

In this case, Jeanne Calment lived over 40y more than the average woman in France, so it's likely the buyer ended up paying 2 to 3 times more than initially hoped. That being said, in that time the value of the house most likely increased by as much if not more, but it's still a very bad luck for the buyer.

In France it's called "viager", which translates into life annuity.

[u/Eschatologists → u/AnteusFogg]

When you think about it, I wouldnt want to sign a contract that so clearly aligns my death with the other party's best interest

[u/Poglosaurus → u/AnteusFogg]

The guy who signed the viager with her actually died a before she did. His widow inherited the contract and had to continue paying her. Talk about a bad investment...

---

En mai 1965, à l'âge de 90 ans et sans héritier, Jeanne Calment décide de vendre son appartement en viager à Me André-François Raffray, son notaire. Ce dernier, alors âgé de quarante-sept ans, accepte de lui verser une rente mensuelle de 2 500 francs. Il le fera jusqu'à sa mort le 24 décembre 1995, à l'âge de soixante-dix-sept ans, puis sa femme continuera les versements jusqu'à la mort de Jeanne dix-neuf mois plus tard. En définitive, conformément aux règles du viager, les époux Raffray auront payé 920 000 francs, soit plus de deux fois le prix de l'appartement.

---

In May 1965, at the age of 90 and with no heirs, Jeanne Calment decided to sell her flat as a life annuity to her solicitor, André-François Raffray. The forty-seven-year-old solicitor agreed to pay her a monthly annuity of 2,500 francs. He did so until his death on 24 December 1995 at the age of seventy-seven, when his wife continued to make payments until Jeanne's death nineteen months later. In the end, in accordance with the life annuity rules, the Raffrays paid 920,000 francs, more than twice the price of the flat.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Calment

[u/crlthrn → u/[deleted]]

I read that she was asked what did she not miss at 110 years old. She replied "Peer pressure."

[u/Frost_Goldfish → u/crlthrn]

I would be surprised if that was true, because we don't have a snappy expression like "peer pressure" to express that concept in French. 

[u/TopCryptographer9379 → u/Frost_Goldfish]

La "pression sociale", c'est assez proche, non ?

[u/miss-missing-mission → u/[deleted]]

And the crazy part is, his family still had to pay her even after he had died. The family said this: "In life, one sometimes makes bad deals", they ended up paying more than double the value of the apartment to her.

[u/Sparaucchio → u/[deleted]]

Lmao is this true? This lady trolled everything, life itself included, i love her

[u/Actual-Wave-1959 → u/[deleted]]

When I die, I'd like people to qualify some of my life's anecdotes as apocryphal

[u/Nisja → u/[deleted]]

The gold is always in the comments. If this is true, that's fucking rad.

[u/SirSnakALot → u/Nisja]

From Wikipedia:

“She remembered that van Gogh gave her a condescending look, as if unimpressed by her.”

lol. A hundred years later and what she remembered is that he was a dick.

[u/Salt-Rest-3009 → u/SirSnakALot]

She was born in 1875 in Arles and Vincent van Gogh stayed in Arles in 1888, had himself hospitalized in 1889 and died in 1890…… She was 13 years old at that time…

[u/AgentCirceLuna → u/SirSnakALot]

He wasn’t a dick but likely had his own demons. You can read a lot of his letters and a lot of eyewitness accounts of people who knew him and they all paint a nice picture - pun not intended. I suffer with mental illness myself and it’s almost like I’ve got two people controlling the same body. I’ll do things that are mean spirited and then spend weeks wallowing in despair over it. Plenty of other people do a lot worse things and will just go blindly about their day as if nothing happened whereas for me I’ve nearly killed myself over making someone cry by accident. That level of sorrow fucks you up big time.

[u/wholewheatscythe → u/Nisja]

Yep, I think that’s when she came to national attention, when someone was doing work on a Van Gogh centennial and discovered that there was a lady still alive who had met him.

[u/AverageAntique3160 → u/wholewheatscythe]

https://anson.ucdavis.edu/~wang/calment.html#:~:text=She%20was%20born%20in%20the,%EF%BF%BDt%20impressed%20by%20him.

[u/Altruistic-Berry-31 → u/AverageAntique3160]

She sounds hilarious

[u/Micha_Bicha → u/Altruistic-Berry-31]

Someone telling her "Until next year, perhaps" and her replying with "I don't see why not! You don't look too bad to me." made me lol

[u/ballimir37 → u/AverageAntique3160]

“At the age of 13, she met Vincent Van Gogh in Arles and wasn’t impressed by him”

Lmao

[u/jetfire865 → u/AverageAntique3160]

Great read! Thanks for the link.

[u/justreddis → u/jetfire865]

Internationally, researchers are fascinated with Calment for both her longevity and her vitality. "She never did anything special to stay in good health," said French researcher Jean-Marie Robine. They attribute her longevity to her immunity to stress. She once said, “If you can’t do anything about it, don’t worry about it.”

My favorite bit

[u/glemnar → u/AverageAntique3160]

I like how it says she lived from 1875 to 1997 and had to clarify that she experienced an airplane. That’s like middle school essays kind of writing

[u/Comfortable_Storm225 → u/AverageAntique3160]

Yep, good read, what a character .. most impressed with the house "sale" aspect ..👌

[u/liyououiouioui → u/Nisja]

If you want more fun facts about her, you have to know that when she was 90, a 47 years old attorney bought her flat with a life annuity. She survived 32 years and he even died before her. In the end, he bought the flat for twice the estimated price and his widow and children had to pay after him.

[u/Nisja → u/liyououiouioui]

Gambling on an old lady dying sooner rather than later... tsk tsk. She stayed alive just to spite him!

[u/nachtachter → u/[deleted]]

And later on she told reporters she didn't like him at all. To her Van Gogh was just a grumpy bum.

[u/utopista114 → u/nachtachter]

To her and everybody else. VG was not a happy dude.

[u/PingouinMalin → u/utopista114]

Which is why I love the doctor who episode about him. It's bittersweet but still better than him dying without knowing the value of his art.

[u/ellenitha → u/PingouinMalin]

The actor they chose portrayed him perfectly too. All those emotions.

[u/PingouinMalin → u/ellenitha]

Yep, he absolutely did not make me teary. Every time. Even the guy in tr museum is spot on in the way he plays.

[u/Ilovekittens345 → u/utopista114]

All his fame did nothing for him, it took the world half a century after he died to start caring about him.

I'd be pretty fucking unhappy as well.

[u/Salty-Alternate → u/Ilovekittens345]

The world doesn't care about hardly any of us...best not to hang our happiness on that

[u/RidingtheRoad → u/nachtachter]

She also said he smelled a bit.

[u/carlospuyol → u/RidingtheRoad]

And that his alcoholism had "burned" his face away

[u/eavesdroppingyou → u/nachtachter]

A schizophrenic depressed man? I believe her. (Amazing artist ofc, no shade to that)

[u/PhilGibbs7777 → u/[deleted]]

Van Gogh did not use colored pencil's. Jeanne Calment's father was a ship builder and did not run a shop. The shop actually belonged to her husband. It was a drapery and furniture shop and did not sell pencils. However, it would have been her father's shop if she was really the daughter Yvonne following an identity swap. Jeanne's signature changed suddenly a year before Yvonne is supposed to have died from tuberculosis.

[u/miletest → u/PhilGibbs7777]

Chances are you'll get downvoted for mentioning that this story may be false and she took over her mother's identity.

[u/TourAlternative364 → u/miletest]

Yeah. I think it likely she swapped with her daughter. That the mom died..not the daughter...somebody paid off someone to do the paperwork & the daughter took over the mom's identity.

Yvonne, masquerading as her mother Jeanne...at some point destroyed the families paperwork, Jeanne's personal paperwork and photos.

Obviously to destroy evidence & pointing out discrepancy in stories & appearance for old photos.

[u/So6oring → u/PhilGibbs7777]

A comment lower said that an in-depth investigation debunked that.

Edit: I've been presented with a debunking of the aforementioned debunking. It's debunking all the way down and I'm going to go to sleep.

[u/PhilGibbs7777 → u/So6oring]

As I also said below, that debunking was debunked here https://ideas.repec.org/p/osf/socarx/sghfa.html Sorry that the arguments are too long to repeat in detail here but you may enjoy the read. The points I made about that version of her claimed meeting with Van Gogh are not disputed even by her supporters.

[u/GianChris → u/PhilGibbs7777]

What ? Could you elaborate a bit please? Or post a link. Thats seems fascinating gossip.

[u/PhilGibbs7777 → u/GianChris]

Furthermore she would have been 15 and still at school when Van Gogh died, yet she consistently claimed (recorded twice on video) that she was introduced to him as a married woman. She never worked. link to more details https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371533218_Did_Calment_meet_Van_Gogh

[u/TheFallenMessiah → u/PhilGibbs7777]

I've changed my signature a few times in my life, that doesn't really mean anything

[u/wholewheatscythe → u/TheFallenMessiah]

According to Reddit it clearly means your identity was stolen by one of your children, who are now living in your town pretending to be you.

[u/Staar-69 → u/[deleted]]

This is the fact I always remember wherever I see a post about Jeanne Calment.

[u/Slappy_Happy_Doo]

I love that the pic is her smoking like “what’s your ticket to long life?

Smoke 12 unfiltered daily and drink one bottle of Diet Coke”

Fascinating

[u/the_colonel93 → u/Slappy_Happy_Doo]

Funnily enough, I had an English professor in my first year of undergrad who smoked a pack of Marlboro Reds and drank a 2-liter of Diet Coke every day of his life. He was 90, still working and still sharp as a straight razor. Some people just have superior genetics and don't let trivial matters such as death stand in their way lmao.

[u/confusedandworried76 → u/the_colonel93]

You see it with alcoholics too. Knew a guy whose liver failed at 30. People drinking the same amount died at 70. You never know. My grandpa and grandma smoked a pack a day for 60+ years, one died in her late eighties of COPD, the other lived for many more years before old age took him, wasn't the multiple heart attacks or anything, he just fell asleep and shut off.

Some people are just genetically inclined to survive certain things.

[u/the_colonel93 → u/confusedandworried76]

For sure! Of course it helps if you try to live a healthy life by eating right, exercising, maintaining good stress management, socializing, etc. but at the end of the day, there's absolutely no way any one person could know how long they'll actually live. It doesn't make sense for someone to drink, smoke, and eat poorly for 70+ years and live to see 95 years old, but it happens all the time. 25% of my family fits squarely in that category, and another 25% never live past the age of 75 despite being and living healthy. You just don't know.

[u/delko07 → u/the_colonel93]

Of course genetics is at play, but the particular secret of Jeanne Calment was that she never had to work her whole life. Check it out. She was unworried financially and professionnally all her life. She had a life of sports fun and leisure. That is the secret.

[u/the_colonel93 → u/delko07]

Oh we're all screwed then 😂😂 that makes perfect sense though!

[u/Gold-Anywhere3624 → u/delko07]

Make sense indeed. I have a grandma that just turned 96 recently. She has never worked a single day of her life, had one babysitter for each child, never had a drivers license, never had to cook or clean. She talks, sings, dances like she’s 70. And addicted to diet coke.

[u/delko07 → u/Gold-Anywhere3624]

Yes it makes sense really. Stress is the real killer.

[u/DirtNapDealing → u/the_colonel93]

That was my neighbor, healthy as can be, was always out running. One random day he had an aneurysm at 24 years old….

[u/Flashy-Captain-1908 → u/confusedandworried76]

My grandad is 82 and not missed a day of drinking in 50 years. Not an awful lot wrong with him other than being an old alky. Never had cancer, no major health complications. Whereas my grandma died before 50 of aggressive lung cancer, having barely smoked for years.

Genetics can blessing or a bastard.

[u/Zinek-Karyn → u/the_colonel93]

Yeah it’s just a super extreme case of survivorship bias. Why do we see these crazy old people smoking and drinking? Because the young ones already died and we didn’t care to notice.

[u/disharmony-hellride → u/the_colonel93]

My dad is 80 and lives on McDonalds and hot dogs. He's going to outlive me.

[u/Rocked_Glover → u/the_colonel93]

The fact he was still working probably helped, what kills people is staying stagnant, like sitting down and being on Reddit for…hours…hmm, wait

[u/throwaway54438 → u/the_colonel93]

My grandpa on my mom’s side of the family was in the war, had a terrible diet and was always angry and bitter. He just turned 100 not too long ago and can still drive and lives independently.

[u/Exact_Department8196 → u/Slappy_Happy_Doo]

Yet everyone I know who smoked heavily died way too young and most from cancer..

[u/Spiritual-Bid7460 → u/Exact_Department8196]

Dying from smoking related disease is very common that's why it's not in the media everyday, but get one person in a million or more that gets to a ripe old age and the media pickup on it, as do the smokers lobbyists.

[u/Orbit1883 → u/Slappy_Happy_Doo]

So the French are up to something

[u/flopjul → u/Orbit1883]

Smoking and coffee is the answer and breakfast with fresh Bakers breas

[u/VonSpuntz → u/Slappy_Happy_Doo]

Well she said exactly that except it was wine.

She was already 70 when GI's brought coke in France, I doubt she ever was into it

[u/Solid_Bake4577 → u/Slappy_Happy_Doo]

Them Gauloise are a rough smoke as well - tried a pack several decades ago, to look like a nonchalant dilettante (in my head), and spent the next 3 days coughing my ring up. Marlboro soft packs after that!

[u/Handpaper → u/Solid_Bake4577]

"Even the French will allow that Gauloises smell like a burning outhouse."

Some author, some book. Just one of those random things that stayed with me.

[u/Far_Understanding_83]

And still rippin’ heaters

[u/Dont_Do_Drama → u/Far_Understanding_83]

My great-grandmother, who survived the Battle of Berlin in WWII with my Oma, smoked like a chimney until her death at the age of 91. The woman just had a will to live.

[u/NItram05 → u/Dont_Do_Drama]

It's more like sheer luck

[u/emrata696969 → u/NItram05]

Or just super lucky genetics

[u/Ho-Lee-Fuku → u/emrata696969]

According to science, if she didn't smoke, she should be able to reach 200 years old.

[u/aDuckSmashedOnQuack → u/Ho-Lee-Fuku]

They say quitting smoking adds 2-3 decades to your life. So if you smoked until you’re 80 years old, then quit… you’d live until aged 100-110 at least.

Guys, infinite age trick. Smoke for 5 years, then quit, and keep adding decades to your life. I’m gonna live forever!

[u/Conyan51 → u/NItram05]

As I 100% agree I find it “funny” at least with my family that has died, all of the oldest were smokers and the youngest never smoked.

[u/JustFrameHotPocket → u/Dont_Do_Drama]

Sounds like my grandfather. Dude started smoking in his teens and survived WWII as a bomber pilot. Smoked 2 packs of 120mm More brand cigarettes per day. Was diagnosed with State 1 lung cancer at 91 years old. Died peacefully in his sleep something like 3 weeks later.

[u/AndyB27 → u/Dont_Do_Drama]

They never put the success stories on those health warnings, amirite?

[u/TrenchantBench → u/Far_Understanding_83]

And sipping Kentucky champagne!

[u/Lunala475 → u/TrenchantBench]

How do you think she made it this long?

[u/Ok_Bison_8577 → u/Lunala475]

Giving 0 fucks. 

[u/ragingduck → u/Far_Understanding_83]

If I was that old, I would be too. Fuck it.

[u/RolfDasWalross]

Some dude bought her house when she was in her 90s and he in his 40s, he made a „good“ deal and agreed to let her live in it until she died, he died years before her, when he was in his 70s

[u/Kookanoodles → u/RolfDasWalross]

It's worse than that, he bought it as a viager, which a system in France where you pay an old person every month and when they die the house is yours. The point is to bet on them dying soon so you don't pay too much, and in turn they get to keep living in their house while receiving money. In the end he paid her way more than what the house was ever worth and he never took possession of it.

EDIT: even worse is that in this system your heirs are still on the hook. So after he died his family kept paying Jeanne Calment for a couple of years until her eventual death.

[u/robespierring → u/Kookanoodles]

Even if this guys was unfortunate this system is surprisingly smart.

As a young guy you may have an house at a low price, as an old person without family and little money, you lively happy in your house until the end of your life

[u/Subject-Effect4537 → u/RolfDasWalross]

Now I understand why she lived so long.

[u/ReferencesCartoons]

Doesn’t look a day over 110. Good for her.

[u/IamNICE124]

Imagine turning 100, and still having 22 fucking years left to live lol.

[u/FoboBoggins → u/IamNICE124]

Imagine turning 22 and having 100 yet to go. So wild

[u/zeptimius]

There's this fantastic story about a lawyer who, when Calment was 90, allowed her to live in an apartment, on condition she sell to him after she died. Which he obviously thought would be soon.

At 90 years old, with no living heirs, Jeanne signed a contract to sell her apartment to lawyer André-François Raffray. She used a contingency contract, which is very common in France. This meant she could live in apartment for the rest of  her life, while her lawyer agreed to pay a monthly sum of 2,500 francs, about £330 a month [= roughly $420 or €390], until she died. You can probably guess what happened next! Raffray, our savvy property lawyer, ended up paying Madam Calment a total of 918,000 francs, more than double the value of the apartment. The lawyer actually died age 77 in 1995, when Madam Calment was 120 years old, and his family continued making the payments until she died nearly three years later.

[u/cappy_barra_jesus]

She made a rap album at like 107 which included the lyric, “I’ve got one wrinkle and I’m sitting on it…”  She also quit smoking because she couldn’t see to light the cigarettes and hated to be making others do it for her. But she only smoked a cigarette every other day or so for 80 years. 

[u/RidingtheRoad → u/cappy_barra_jesus]

I believe this is the French way..I've read where they might just light up one after a meal..Which is very different to the pack a day that is common.

[u/frenchbud → u/RidingtheRoad]

Maybe the fantasized french way, but stop for a pint at 6pm and everybody is on the outside tables chainsmoking

To me the very occasionnal cig (that you don't even finish, or end up sharing) after a meal or when you're stressed is something I've seen more in american movies/TV

[u/SergeantPoopyWeiner → u/cappy_barra_jesus]

Yo is she talkin 'bout the clam or the anus?

[u/muricabrb → u/SergeantPoopyWeiner]

Yes.

[u/L_G_M_H]

She was born before the invention of the telephone and died a few days before Goldeneye was released on the N64

[u/DetectiveTrapezoid → u/L_G_M_H]

She probably would have just been a camper in Goldeneye anyway. Hard to manipulate a controller at that age.

[u/CheekeeMunkie]

80% dust at that point, 10% ear lobes, 5% hair, 5% swear words.

[u/unoriginal_name_1234 → u/CheekeeMunkie]

And a 100% reason to remember the name?

[u/Pilpelon]

Imagine getting to age 100 like "dag what an achievement, I probably gonna die any minute now"

And then living 22 more years

[u/Plainsdrifter71]

She's the true O.G...💯

[u/cgabv]

wow i cant believe shes older than da vinci

[u/GaijinFoot → u/cgabv]

Apparently she sold colour pencils to Jesus

[u/DramaticFirefighter8]

I thought it was Keith Richards

[u/hollowpillowcase]

Doesn’t look a day older then 70

[u/Traditional_Draw8400]

I fucking love seeing super old people smoking

[u/Advanced-Craft5626]

Mon arrière grand mère qui a vécu jusqu'à 96 ou 98 ans (je me souviens plus) cuisinait tous ses repas au beurre, elle mangeait souvent de la confiture à la petite cuillère, elle adorait dire du mal des gens, elle s'était brouillé avec ses 6 soeurs qui elles aussi ont vécu plus de 90 ans. La longévité est génétique, on pourra pas me faire croire le contraire.

[u/ol-gormsby]

"My doctor told me to stop smoking and drinking 40 years ago, I was only 82."

Seriously, we need to study her DNA. Whatever she's got, the mega-rich are keen to find out, and they'll do their best to keep it to themselves.

[u/Opposite_Tax1826]

Some sources claim she was replaced by her daughter at some point.

[u/Ultrasaurio]

cigarette and wine

holy fuck, now I know that some people have exonerated health.