Jeanne Calment: from Van Gogh's time to ours, 122 extraordinary years

Madame Jeanne Calment was born before the Eiffel Tower was built, before the telephone was invented, before Van Gogh (whom she met) arrived in her native Arles to paint. She was forty years old when world war broke out - the first one. By the time the second one came along, she had already retired. When she died in August 1997, at the age of 122 years and 164 days, she had survived a husband, daughter, and grandson. Hers was the longest life ever documented. In Jeanne Calment: From Van Gogh's Time to Ours, Michel Allard and Jean-Marie Robine, specialists in human aging, and Victor Lebre, Madame Calment's personal physician, assemble a vivid portrait of this charming, remarkable woman. Based on their interviews with Mme. Calment collected during her last years, the book offers a rare opportunity to view more than a century through the life of this centenarian - a life affected, like all of our lives, by the tumultuous turns of history both public and private. But Mme. Calment's story is not only about memories. She stands as an odds-defying case study in aging, living nearly twice as long as the average person. Adding to her biography, the authors examine the demographic, genetic, health, and lifestyle factors that could have contributed to her long life. Optimistic, opinionated, and well aware of he uniqueness of her life, Jeanne Calment is a captivating guide through a remarkable era. Readers of her story are in for an unforgettable encounter with history.