Jeanne Calment

Jeanne is famous for being the oldest among archicentenarians but is it true?

Early Vital Records and Events
Jeanne Louise Calment was born on February 21st, 1875 in Arles, rue Duroure. Her parents were shipbuilder Nicolas Calment and Marguerite Gilles, without profession. Her godfather Pierre Gilles “Louis” Paget (1810-1897) was a sweet confectioner, but Madame Calment told her validators that he was a diplomat. In 1886, Jeanne is counted with her parents and maid Marguerite Minaud in section L at the new address, Roquette 53. Validators of Madame Calment claimed that she had only one address before marriage (at rue Duroure) but this is wrong. In an interview to Paris Match in 1988, Jeanne said that she was born at Roquette 53, but this is also wrong. She also told a detailed story about the ship "La Jeanne" built by her father and later it was confirmed: documents about the ship were found in her apartment by Paris Match.

In 1896, Jeanne is counted with her parents, Marguerite Minaud, and grandfather Claude Gilles at Roquette 53. Validators of Madame Calment claimed that there was no census in 1896 but this is wrong.

School
Jeanne likely studied in Madame Benet school until her communion at the age of 13. This school was located at rue du Cloître, not at place Republique as written in the validation. Madame Calment said in different interviews that both Jeanne and Yvonne studied in this school, however this school most likely no longer existed when Yvonne would have been of age to attend. Then, according to validation interviews, Jeanne studied at secondary courses at rue du Cloître. However, secondary courses were located at that street when Yvonne studied there. From 1886 till October 1889 the school was located at rue st. Paul then moved to rue du Cloître.

If Jeanne continued her education with secondary courses then among her teachers probably were music teacher Mlle Gachon (already teaching at 18 years old) and mathematics teacher Dubourguet (newspaper Forum Republicain, 1986). Both teachers were mentioned by Madame Calment in her interviews with validators, though when she was asked who taught her at school she didn't name Gachon. She said that children came to Gachon's house to learn music. Other teachers mentioned by her were not found in the college in this period. From the 1916 newspaper clipping, we know that Gachon died (after she received a prize for playing piano in May 1915) and there was no good music teacher left in Arles, so the school had to search for a teacher in Marseilles which could explain why Madame Calment went to Marseilles to continue her studies if she was Yvonne Calment. She also said that servant Marthe Touchon accompanied her to school but she probably meant Marthe Fousson who was 10 years younger than Jeanne and was instead a maid of Yvonne.

Meeting Van Gogh


Madame Calment first told the story about Van Gogh in 1987 to a journalist who covered the approaching centennial of Van Gogh's stay in Arles and searched for old people who met the artist. After that she quickly became famous. In her interview with AFP and in the Canadian film Vincent and Me she states that she met the artist in her father’s store which contradicts the fact that Nicolas Calment never had a store. In later interviews, she said that it was the store of her husband, Fernand Calment, who presented her as his wife to Van Gogh who used to buy canvases there. Simonoff said that Van Gogh bought canvases in Calment’s store in May 1889. However, this story is not credible for several reasons. Jeanne was a young girl when Van Gogh was in Arles. Van Gogh probably never bought anything in Calment’s store, seeing that his brother Theo usually supplied him with canvases. On a few occasions, Vincent bought art supplies himself in other stores in Arles and but it was well before May 1889. He left Arles for an asylum in St. Remy on May 8.

Van Gogh biographers conclude that there is no evidence of the story told by Madame Calment to be true. Validators suggested that Van Gogh could buy a bed in Calment’s store. However, he lived rather far from this store and there were plenty of merchants closer to him and his well documented lifestyle was hardly compatible with being a frequent customer at the Calment’s store. The Calment’s store specialized in drapery and not in beds. Being not yet married and a student, Jeanne was also not expected to visit this store frequently. According to Madame Calment, she didn’t go to the store. To conclude, regardless of the true identity of Madame Calment, this story was probably entirely invented by her to please journalists. Another example of an invented story was the story that she “was never ill, never ever” which is not compatible with pleural sequelae on her chest x-rays. Thus, we can assume that Madame Calment didn’t hesitate to play with truth which is consistent with switch hypothesis.

Alliance Francaise Ball
Madame Calment said that she attended the Alliance France Ball when she was 16 years old and her dress was made by famous couturier Madame "Chambourgon". She also said that there was another couturier after Chambourdon but she didn't recall her name. Alliance Francaise was established in Arles only since late 1895 when Jeanne was almost 21. The president was notary Arnaud who signed both Jeanne's and Yvonne's marriage contracts. There was indeed a couturier named Angeline Chambourdon in Arles who died in 1898. Alternatively, Angeline had several sisters, one of which, Marie Chambourdon (1854-1919), was an active couturier in Paris and sold her dresses in Arles. It is more likely that Madame Calment was indeed referring to this Chambourdon as the 'famous couturier'.

Marriage and childbirth
On April 8th, 1896, Jeanne married her double second cousin Fernand Calment. On January 19th, 1898, Jeanne and her husband Fernand had a daughter, Yvonne Calment. Before marriage Jeanne was reported to paint a lot. Madame Calment said that her painting teacher was Ferigoule, but he came to Arles only in 1897. The rose on the menu to the right probably dates 1898 so that it could be devoted to celebrating Yvonne's birth.



In 1906, Jeanne is counted with her husband, daughter, mother-in-law Maria Felix and servant Marthe Fousson (born in 1885 in Fontveille) who was mentioned by Madame Calment as the maid who accompanied her to school.

Social Activity
In 1907, Jeanne was an advisor for the society of mutual help in Arles. Such an activity was not expected from Madame Calment who was known to hate socialists. In 1912 she donated money for the construction of a military aircraft "Frederic Mistral" (which was probably never built). It seems extremely unlikely that Jeanne was "baptised by air" when she was 40, as Madame Calment claimed in later interview to Paris Match. It is more likely that Yvonne flew an airplane in the late 1930s. In 1914 Jeanne gave money to offer beverages to soldiers in a station of Arles before creation of "la cantine du soldat". She was a member of "la cantine du soldat" in 1915 with an office in "bureau bienfaisance" where Nicolas Calment worked earlier.

The woman treating a soldier could be Jeanne The woman on another photo with soldiers in the school could be Yvonne Calment.

1931 census
According to the 1931 census, the Calments' house on Gambetta Street in Arles was inhabited by homeowner Fernand Calment along with his mother Maria Felix, his wife “Maria” (the validators suggest that this was a confusion with his mother and should be read as Jeanne), Yvonne's husband Joseph Billot-Calment, Yvonne's son Frédéric Billot-Calment, Louise Gauzargues (born 1894), servant and cook and Pauline Cheylan (born 1895), maid. The validators explain the absence of Yvonne by a recopying error. However, an alternative interpretation is that Jeanne's health was by then in decline and the family provided obfuscating information in order to hide Jeanne's disease. One of these servants probably told her granddaughter about the switch. This granddaughter told the story to the director of the nursery home, but she didn't believe it.

Absence from public life in 1930s
On September 19th, 1931, a month after Yvonne Calment was seen in hotel Belvedere in Leysin, Fernand Calment visits a big local music event without Jeanne. It would be strange to mention a high profile husband without mentioning his wife. Madame Castelbon was mentioned with her husband, for example. We know that Jeanne loved music, so her absence is consistent with the assumption that she was away in Leysin suffering from tuberculosis. Additionally, Jeanne is not seen in any public photos from the 1920s or 30s and every attempt to find her trace in Arles in the 1930s fails.

Corrida
Madame Calment said that torrero Espartero died in front of Jeanne and Fernand Calment in Nimes. Indeed, this torrero got a wound in Nimes on October 4, 1896 and died 4 days later. However, Yvonne Calment could hear this dramatic story from her parents.

Photos
These pictures of Fernand and Jeanne were shown on the TV program "Sept-A-Huit" on TF1 in March 2019. Their origin is unknown but they are assumed to be early in the couples' marriage because Fernand had not yet grown a beard. In the following photos Jeanne has an identical hairstyle which suggests that they were taken at the same photographic session.

The first one shows Jeanne and Fernand together. This was published in the book by Simonoff where it was claimed to be from 1900.

This well known portrait has appeared in several books. Robine and Allard give her age here as 20, but the identical hairstyle to the previous photo means they were taken on the same day. This photo of Jeanne Calment was posted on Facebook by Martine Crouanson on 3rd March 2019. Martine is a first cousin twice removed of Fernand Calment on his father's side.

Two photos exist of Yvonne, Jeanne and Fernand together attending a baptism. The woman near Yvonne is Jeanne and the man to her right is Fernand with Maria Felix likely behind him. Yvonne carries Maria's stick and is dressed fashionably while Maria, the coowner of the tissue store, is dressed in exotic dress. Jeanne is dressed in much more dress than Maria and Yvonne. Photos are from recent "revalidation" paper. Nicolas Crouanson and Emile Fassin are probably here and the baby in Yvonne's (and probably Jeanne's) hands is likely Germaine Fassin. However, some observers think that Jeanne sits on the left in the first row.



This picture of Jeanne Calment dressed in traditional Arlesian costume is said to be taken at age 22. It appeared in the Paris Match article from 1988 and then in the books "L'oubliée de Dieu" by France Cavalié and "La passion de vivre" by Gabriel Simonoff. In France Dimanche it was dated as 1910.

Here she looks rather similar to Yvonne Calment. Both photos could be taken at the same Festo vierginenco festival in 1913 when Yvonne turned 15 and was allowed to wear the ribbon.

This photo can be found in a number of sources, starting from the 1988 Paris Match article. It was dated as 1905 in the New Detective Journal and as 1918 in VSD. This photo (as well as several others) was published in 1997 in the journals 'New Detective' and Tele Star. The source could be Josette Bigonnet who inherited the archive of Madame Calment. Here Jeanne looks almost the same as on the famous switch photo taken 20 years later but does not look underweight like on the latter photo.



Two photos of Jeanne Calment survive from photographer Gustave Ouvière taken together around 1923. Provided by the Pierre Fassin donation to the Arles mediatheque and dated by François Robin Champignol. The second photo apparently from the same sitting was used on an identity card in the 1930s. This photo with Jeanne playing piano and Fernand listening was shown on Belgian TV in 2019 along with some other photos, coming from a family album, most probably from Bigonnet family. Josette Bigonnet said she destroyed some but not all family photos. Here, Jeanne has a close resemblance to Yvonne due to their similarity when smiling and also because of the photo quality. The description by Madame Calment of the living room and the folding screen allegedely made by Jeanne while she was painting awaiting marriage fits well to this photo. According to her interview to her validators, "My father had changed the living room. The screen was taken away, as it wasn't fashionable any more, so the panels were taken out and shared - I gave them to friends". This photo of Jeanne Calment, probably taken sometime in the late 1920s or early 1930s, was published in Paris Match in 1997. Jeanne looks heavier here than in the joint photo taken in 1931, so she must have undergone rapid weight loss. Some gray hair is visible.

Possible Photo of Jeanne Calment
This photo was given to Muriel Blanchecotte-Devilette (who worked in the Maison du Lac shortly after the death of Mme Calment) by Mr. Marie along with his notes about the Calments. It could be a picture of Jeanne Calment with her father Nicolas and daughter Yvonne Calment about three years old. There are striking resemblances with other photos. Unfortunately the quality of the picture is poor because it was produced from an original using a photocopier. The chairs are folding metal bistro chairs which were patented in 1889. They became popular for use outside bistros and later as garden chairs.

Marie wrote that Madame Calment never met Van Gogh. According to him, it was Fernand Calment (Marie calls him "papa Nicolas") who sold canvases to the artist in the family store at rue Jouvenne so probably the famous description of Van Gogh by Madame Calment comes from him. Marie says that Fernand initially was going to marry sister of his grandfather, but changed his mind for reasons which are too long to explain.

Switch Photo


This is the only known photo showing Jeanne and adult Yvonne together. Jeanne is on the right. It appeared in the books of Robine and Allard from 1994 and Le Figaro in 1995, having probably originated in a local press report credited to Michèle Gil and all subsequent digital copies appear to have been scanned from the book or journal. It is possible that Allard and/or Gil still holds a photographic copy which may reveal important details.

It is not known where or when the picture was taken, but Yvonne's hairstyle matches very closely the one seen in another pictures known to be taken at the Belvedere sanatorium for tuberculosis in Leysin. This picture must have been taken outdoors because the curtains of the window are behind the glass and the sharp shadow is characteristic of direct sunlight rather than interior lighting.

The flowers could be Carline Thistle, a stemless alpine plant native to Switzerland and used as a herbal remedy for lung diseases including tuberculosis. It flowers in August and September. This flower grows near sanatoriums in Leysin.

Jeanne looks thin and sick, her hand seems to be swollen. The phalange (metacarpal) of her 2d finger seems to be longer than phalange of her third finger contrary to Yvonne Calment and Madame Calment.

There is a hypothetical abscess (sign of cutaneous tuberculosis) on the right hand of Jeanne.



This photo hints that Jeanne could have "surgical tuberculosis" with her right arm amputated (probably before she came to Leysin): the shoulders of her jacket have same length while the whole left shoulder is much longer than right. However the photo is taken in such a way that it is hard to tell for sure.



Comparisons
Jeanne Calment was very similar to Madame Calment but her face shape was different. Jeanne is on the left, Madame Calment is on the right. They look similar enough so people believed they were the same person but the upper lip and eyelid became fatter while the diagonal wrinkle near eye (arrow) disappeared. Jeanne (above) has different eye wrinkle patterns than Madame Calment (below). Relative size of phalanges on Jeanne's second and third finger seem inconsistent with that of Madame Calment who has a significantly larger phalange on her third finger. Here are Jeanne and Madame Calment sitting. For more comparisons see Madame Calment.