J'Accuse...! Why Jeanne Calment's 122-year old longevity record may be fake

(Note: To avoid work misattribution, please see the Authorship section at the end of this article)

For many gerontologists, Jeanne Calment is almost what Joan of Arc is for the French. A symbol, a legend, a saint. The longevity record of Jeanne of Arles, set at 122 years and 164 days, is known to every true aging fighter. Since Jeanne set it in 1997 nobody managed to break it or even get close -- the second place barely exceeds 119 years, and the third stands at 117. Of those contenders who stand any chance -- i.e. those who are presently alive -- the oldest ones are just 115 years old. Given that after age 100 the annual probability of dying is about 1/2, the chances of a centenarian living to 122 are incredibly small.

But in gerontological circles nobody doubts the authenticity of Jeanne's record. On the contrary, she is referred to as the "most validated centenarian". Indeed, her documents are impeccable: she was born and lived her entire life in one place -- the city of Arles in the south of France -- and, coming from a well-known bourgeois family, Jeanne appears in many official sources. However, impeccable documents are no guarantee against fraud, as those documents could be used by someone else, someone younger. For example, your daughter.

Enter Yvonne

Jeanne did have a daughter. Yvonne Marie Nicolle Calment was born in 1898, when her mother was almost 23, and died, according to official documents, in 1934 on the day of her 36th birthday. Curiously, her death certificate was issued on the basis of testimony of a sole witness, a 71-year-old unemployed woman (i.e. not a doctor or nurse) who "saw her dead":

And here's the thing: in those rare photos of young Yvonne that survived -- old Jeanne inexplicably ordered to burn all her family photos when the city of Arles asked her to provide them for the city's archives -- it is Yvonne who has the closest resemblance to the woman who lived to the year 1997. Moreover, the photo of young Yvonne had become widely known as a photo of Jeanne, labeled so in various sources, even ones as respectable as the prime authority on supercentenarians, Gerontology Research Group (from 2007 to 2018), or Wikipedia:

Let's take a closer look at this photo. Here it is in decent resolution and colorized for your viewing pleasure by this algorithm:

Below is a close-up of the face from the original photo:

Does this photo really look like a photo of someone taken in Victorian 1897, when Jeanne was 22, as Wikipedia claims? Or does it seem more appropriate for the Flapper style of the "Roaring 1920s"? I am no expert, but an expert I respect -- Alexander Vasiliev, the host of Russian TV show "Fashion Verdict" -- believes the latter option much more likely:

"The dress is likely from around 1845, while the headpiece and hairstyle are 1930. Most likely the photo was taken in 1926-1930 in a vintage Arlesian Provence national costume."

Interestingly, since 1903 Arles holds an annual national costume festival: