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I'd recommend the New Yorker article: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/02/17/was-jeanne-calment-the-oldest-person-who-ever-lived-or-a-fraud https://www.

I'd recommend the New Yorker article: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/02/17/was-jeanne-calment-the-oldest-person-who-ever-lived-or-a-fraud https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/02/17/was-jeanne-cal... Despite all the good reasoning about it being impossible to live that long, what does it for me is that people in her town, where she was well known, would have had to have not noticed Jeanne die and her daughter take her place. Including her doctor. Not saying she definitely isn't a fraud, but the evidence against her is more hypothetical and the evidence for her is more solid.

tim333 3y ago
Well, you can argue both ways. For me I think it's fake basically due to the photos. The mum and daughter look similar but not identical and to my eyes the later pictures are the daughter. Re the locals not noticing, if you thought someone looked a bit funny would you just think that's a bit odd or publically accuse them or fraud? Personally I'd do the thinking it odd and ignoring it thing.
- jecel 3y ago
  About 20 years ago I was watching the local news (small town in Brazil) and one of the things they showed was a farmer's 130th birthday. He had been bedridden for nearly a year at that point but everyone commented how he had been still working hard until that happened. They showed his wedding picture where his wife, now herself an old lady, looked like a teenager while he looked pretty much like the old guy he was during the interview. His youngest son was 30 at the time, which is another thing people who wouldn't believe his age would accept. It might have been fraud for 15 minutes of local fame. This wasn't national or international news and nobody had any interest in a book of records. But it seemed real to me.