The Story of the Oldest Woman in the World Who Met Vincent Van Gogh and Said She Didn’t Like Him

A centenarian is one who lives 100 years or more. Some people say that it is impossible to live that long, but if there is anyone who contradicts this statement, it is Jeanne Calment, a French woman who lived no less than 122 years. Her longevity has always caused a lot of controversy; they even created a theory that her daughter assumed her identity in the last years of her life. If this is true or not, we have no way of knowing, but what we cannot deny is that her life was indeed long and full of very interesting episodes.

We, from awesome.clubwe were really impressed by Jeanne’s story, so we decided to research whether there is any secret behind her longevity.

Jeanne Calment was born in Arles, France, in 1875. At that time, a woman’s life expectancy was about 45 years. Interestingly, Jeanne lived almost three times that, and in a not at all monotonous way.

She even claimed that at the age of 13 she met Vincent van Gogh in a painting workshop where she helped her future husband. According to her, the painter did not make a good impression on her because he was ugly, did not smell good and was quite rude.

In 1898, Jeanne had a daughter, Yvonne. Sadly, she died young in 1934, leaving a grandson in the care of Jeanne and her husband, Fernand. In 1942, Jeanne experienced yet another tragedy and lost her husband. It is possible to say that her long life was actually a curse, as she had to face grief many times🇧🇷 In 1963, she lost her grandson and son-in-law.

In 1988, aged 112, she was recognized as the oldest person in the world already documented. Another woman received this title some time later, but as she died in 1991 the title ended up going back to Jeanne, who at the time was 116 years old.

Although many people say that it’s impossible to live so many years, a team of researchers confirmed that Jeanne was indeed who she claimed to be. A demographer stated that the lifestyle she maintained and her way of being contributed to her longevity. Even at a very advanced age, she continued to wake up early to do gymnastics.

But don’t think that this subject was closed without major controversies. In 2018, there was another episode about Jeanne’s age. Valery Novoselov, a Russian geriatrician, announced that wanted to prove that the French woman was an imposter and had not lived 122 years. His theory was shared and accepted by the mathematician Nikolay Zak.

According to your calculations, it was very unlikely that anyone could live that long. However, mathematical models created by other researchers showed that it was indeed possible to live to such an advanced age. And other documented cases of people who lived to a similar age confirmed the information.

Some evidence seemed to reinforce Novoselov and Zak’s ideas. At least they saw the situation that way. Further investigation contributed to another theory that the person claiming to be Jeanne Calment was actually his daughter, Yvonne🇧🇷

These people claimed that Jeanne Calment had died in 1934 and her family just said it was Yvonne to avoid inheritance taxes. This theory has been refuted by a researcher who explained that these taxes would not have caused so much damage to the family, so there was no reason to commit fraud.

Although other theories have emerged in this regard, documents and testimonials from people have always been sufficient to prove that Jeanne Calment was, in fact, Jeanne Calment and that she actually lived 122 years.

It’s natural to think that a person who lives as long as Jeanne and who, because of this, has to witness the death of so many loved ones, becomes reserved and even grumpy. But this is not the case for Jeanne.

When she turned 100, she walked to the homes of all the people in Arles who wished her a happy birthday to thank them. Furthermore, she never lost the will to live, not even when she got very old. At 120, she said: “I see badly, I hear badly, I can’t feel anything, but that’s okay.” And she added: “I waited 110 years to become famous and I intend to enjoy it”.

Nobody You know how did she manage to live so long🇧🇷 According to her, the secret of longevity is in laughter and olive oil🇧🇷 There are those who say that the secret is in her diet, which is rich in sugars — she ate 1 kg of chocolate a week and ate dessert at every meal. A researcher specializing in medicine said she only lived so many years because she was “immune to stress”.

What do you think is the secret to longevity? Would you like to live 122 years or do you think it’s too long? Know someone who lived longer than 100 years?