Jeanne Calment

FOR 100 years nothing much happened to Jeanne Calment. Centenarians are commonplace these days. But as she lived on, and on, she became famous, first in her home town, Arles, in southern France, then nationally, and eventually as the person with the longest proven life of anyone in history. France, always happy for new evidence that it is, in every way, the most desirable of countries to be born in, was gratified when (in October 1995) Mrs Calment passed the lifespan of a Japanese who had previously held this most competitive of records. Mrs Calment, it was noted, attributed her staying power to olive oil and good French wine.