FRANCE WOMAN BELIEVED TO BE WORLDS OLDEST PERSON DIES AGE 122

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(4 Aug 1997) Natural Sound • • Jeanne Calment, believed to be the world's oldest person, died today in Arles, France. She was 122. • • Calment, who met Vincent Van Gogh when she was young, credited olive oil and Port wine for her longevity. • • Though blind, nearly deaf and in a wheelchair, Jeanne Calment remained spirited and mentally sharp until the end. • • She had spent the past 12 years in a retirement home in the southern city of Arles. • • Sources close to the Arles city hall, who confirmed Mrs. Calment's death on Monday morning, gave no precise cause. • • Birthdays were a chance to indulge. She said in February that she had impatiently awaited her birthday so she could eat some chocolate and drink a little sweet wine . • • Calment's doctor persuaded her to give up sweets two years ago, although she long claimed an occasional glass of Port wine - along with a diet rich in olive oil - were the keys to her long life. • • The Guinness Book of World Records had listed Mrs. Calment as the oldest living person whose birth date could be authenticated by reliable records. • • Born on February 21, 1875, she eventually became Arles' greatest attraction since the artist Vincent Van Gogh, who spent a year there in 1888. • • She met him that year when he came to her uncle's shop to buy paints, and later remembered him as dirty, badly dressed and disagreeable . • • She gave up cigarettes in 1995, but her doctor said her abstinence was due to pride rather than health - she was too blind to light up herself, and hated asking someone to do it for her. • • Calment had no direct descendants, having survived her husband, her daughter and her grandson. • • At 85, she took up fencing lessons, and she was still riding a bike at 100. • • At 121, Mrs. Calment gave a hint as to how she stayed sharp. I dream, I think, I go over my life, she said, I never get bored. • • Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork • Twitter: / ap_archive • Facebook: / aparchives • Instagram: / apnews • • • You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

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