Under Age

Image: APImages.com

In the summer of 1997, Jeanne Calment became a celebrity. That was the day of her death, and the day she passed all the world records for longevity. For 122 year, five months, and 14 days, Jeanne Calment managed to evade the malach hamaves.

In the 23 years since her passing, and during the last decades of her life, researchers have been intrigued about uncovering the secret to her exceedingly long life. Calment was born on February 21, 1875, to prominent residents of the town of Arles Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence. Her father, Nicholas, was a well-to-do shipbuilder, and her mother, Mary, came from a family of millers.

Jeanne lived a graced childhood, according to her biographer, Georges Garoyan, and a team of researchers who interviewed Calment extensively in her later years. Every morning after a cup of hot chocolate, she would head off to school accompanied by the family maid. When the morning session was over, her father would bring her home for lunch, share a companionable meal, and return her to school in time for the afternoon sessions.

Despite her upbringing in a society where little girls were expected to be demure and beribboned, Calment loved the outdoors, and spent a lot of time on her father’s farms in Saint Martin de Crau and Paradou. At 11, like other French mademoiselles her age, Calment progressed to college (high school), graduating at 16. After her graduation, as going to work didn’t enter the equation, she spent her time painting and playing piano.