If you can’t do anything about it, don’t worry about it.
In a world where 80 years old is considered a ripe old age, imagine living more than another 40 years after that.
One of the world’s most amazing superhumans has to be Jeanne Calment. Our Angel of Longevity lived until she was 122 years and 164 days old.
Early History
Jeanne was born on 21 February 1875 in Arles, France.
Her parents Nicolas Calment (a shipbuilder) and Marguerite Gilles were hard workers.
Jeanne attended the local schools.
When she was 13 years old she met Vincent Van Gogh and often spoke about how unimpressed she was with the man, despite his fame.
She said (about Van Gogh) “very ugly, ungracious, impolite, sick — I forgive him, they called him loco.”
She left school when she was 16 graduating with the diploma brevet classique.
She got married when she was 21 to a distant relative Fernand Nicolas Calment.
Image: Wikipedia
Nicolas was a wealthy man and this meant Jeanne was able to lead a life of leisure mingling with other upper society members of Arles playing sports and pursuing her hobbies.
Jeanne lived so long she survived her husband, her daughter and even outlived her granddaughter.
What was her Super Power?
Jeanne Calment’s super power was longevity. She found the secret to living longer than any other documented human being.
Amazingly it was not a healthy lifestyle that contributed to this as reports are that she not only smoked until age 116 but drank regularly as well. Her favorite drink was Port Wine.
Jeanne died on 4 August, 1997.
What can we learn from her?
Over the years she shared some of her secrets to a long life including:
- Remaining calm
- Laughing a lot
- Eating a lot of chocolate
The current oldest person in the world is Nabi Tajima. Nabi is 117 years of age and still has a long way to go to catch up with our Superhuman Jeanne Calment.
Video of Jeanne Calment Aged 119
Oldest People ever - Guiness World Records
References:
Secrets of a long and happy life
Wikipedia
UC Davis
