A 122-year-old grandmother outsmarted a notary who wanted to profit from her (2 photos)

In beautiful France, there once lived an old woman named Jeanne Louise Calment. She lived an incredibly long life—122 years and 164 days. Incidentally, this still holds the absolute record. All documents are in order, and her authenticity has been confirmed.





She was born in 1875. There was no electricity back then, the country was ruled by Napoleon III, and the streets were lit by gas lamps. In her youth, she met Van Gogh and spoke less than flatteringly of him, calling him "an unkempt and unpleasant fellow."

During her long life, she witnessed incredible changes: wars, the invention of airplanes, the advent of the internet and smartphones. Essentially, she was a woman from three completely different eras. One can only imagine how her worldview changed from the era of gas lamps and Napoleon to modern technology! And Napoleon, by the way, is long gone.

Until she was a hundred, she enjoyed cycling. Until she was 117, she continued to smoke cigarettes. She enjoyed chocolate and a glass of wine every day. When asked about the secret to her longevity, she answered simply: "Genetics and a good sense of humor." At 120, she added a joke: "I have only one wrinkle, and I'm sitting on it."

And now we finally get to the most interesting part. When Jeanne was 90, she decided to sell her apartment viager—a sale where the buyer pays the seller a certain amount monthly until the seller's death, and after that, the apartment becomes the buyer's property. This is a common scheme in France.

A notary named Raffray, 47 years old, came along. He decided he'd outsmarted everyone: "This old lady doesn't have long to live; soon I'll own the apartment." He signed the necessary documents and looked forward to the profit.

But fate decreed otherwise.



Jeanne lived another 32 years. The notary himself died before her. His widow faithfully paid the old woman's rent for two more years. Ultimately, the apartment's value became astronomical, as if they had bought not an apartment, but an entire block.

After her death in 1997, conspiracy theorists emerged. They claimed that Jeanne had died long ago, and that her daughter, Yvonne, had posed as her mother to collect her pension. A thorough investigation was conducted, from examining archives to fingerprinting. The conclusion: it was indeed Jeanne.

Scientists are still amazed. No one has officially lived longer than 122 years. They even coined a special term: the "Calment limit."

In short, the grandmother outwitted the notary, lived through three centuries, and left the apartment intact. And she retained her sense of humor.