1. Jeanne Calment
21st February 1875 – 4th August 1997 Age: 122 years 164 days
Jeanne Louise Calment (21 February 1875 – 4 August 1997) had the longest living person confirmed human life span in history, living to the age of 122 years, 164 days. She lived in Arles, France, for her entire life, and outlived both her daughter and grandson. She became especially well known from the age of 113, when the centenary of Vincent van Gogh’s visit brought reporters to Arles. She entered the Guinness Book of Records in 1988, and on 17 October 1995 she became the oldest person ever, having surpassed the (now dubious) case of Shigechiyo Izumi of Japan. She became the last living documented person born in the 1870s when the Japanese supercentenarian Tane Ikai (born 1879) died on 12 July 1995; in total she outlived no fewer than 329 undisputedly verified supercentenarians. Her life span has been thoroughly documented by scientific study, with more records having been produced to verify her age than for any other case. She is the only person ever to be confirmed beyond any doubt to have reached 120 years of age.
2. Shigechiyo Izumi
29th June 1865 – 21st February 1986 Age: 120 years 237 days
29th June 1865 – 21st February 1986 Age: 120 years 237 days
3. Sarah Knauss
24th September 1880 – 30th December 1999 Age: 119 years 97 days
24th September 1880 – 30th December 1999 Age: 119 years 97 days
Sarah DeRemer Knauss (September 24, 1880 – December 30, 1999) was an American supercentenarian considered the world’s oldest living person by Guinness World Records from April 16, 1998, the date of the death of 117-year-old Canadian Marie-Louise Meilleur, until her own death. At age 117, she also set the record for the world’s oldest “new” title-holder (which corresponds to the highest “valley” on a graph of the oldest living persons over time). Knauss is the second-oldest fully documented person ever, behind Jeanne Calment. She was the last verified living person to have been born before 1885, and the most recent person to reach age 117.
4. Lucy Hannah
16th July 1875 – 21st March 1993 Age: 117 years 248 days
16th July 1875 – 21st March 1993 Age: 117 years 248 days
Lucy Hannah née Terrell (July 16, 1875 – March 21, 1993) was an American supercentenarian. Hannah is the third-oldest person ever and the oldest black person ever, as well as the oldest living American at the time of her death. She is also the oldest person never to have been the oldest living person, since she lived at the same time as Jeanne Calment, the oldest person ever to live.
Marie-Louise Fébronie Meilleur (née Chassé; August 29, 1880 – April 16, 1998) was a French Canadian supercentenarian who, upon the death of Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, became the oldest recognized living person. Meilleur is still the oldest validated Canadian ever.
