The oldest person who ever lived was a French woman named Jeanne Calment. She died on August 4, 1997, but not until spending 122 years and 164 days on this planet.

When I was in junior high, I remember our history teacher's showing us a movie about some peasant from Georgia-as in central Asia, not Atlanta-who was still hoeing his wheat fields at the age of 165. Maybe it was a hoax. Or maybe this Georgian gentleman didn't have the birth certificate to verify his claims of longevity. For whatever reason, researchers and gerontologists have settled on Ms. Calment as the world's oldest person whose age can be verified beyond a reasonable doubt.

Ms. Calment was born in the town of Arles in southern France on Feb. 21, 1875. I wonder if she ever met Vincent Van Gogh. After all, Arles is where Van Gogh painted some of his most famous canvasses, including Sunflowers. It was 1888. Ms. Calment was 13-years-old. Van Gogh would clear out of Arles in May 1889. Ms. Calment would remain in the town for the rest of her life.

How does a person live to be 122? It helps if you're rich and don't have to work. Ms. Calment was; and she didn't. Her father was a wealthy shipbuilder. Her husband owned a successful store. So Ms. Calment was free to dedicate her life to hobbies like tennis, swimming, biking, piano and opera. Ms. Calment had a daughter and a grandson, both of whom she outlived.

People don't live to 122 unless they stay active. Ms. Calment took up fencing at age 85 and was still riding a bicycle after her 100th birthday. She lived independently and on her own until finally being moved to a nursing home at age 110. Four years later, she fell, broke her hip and lost her mobility. And here's what really gets me. Ms. Calment smoked until age 117, only giving up the nasty habit when she lost the ability to see well enough to light up.

When asked in interviews to what she attributed her longevity, Ms. Calment's cited two things: olive oil, which she poured on all of her food and rubbed onto her skin, and port wine, which she drank just about every day until her death.

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