Yvonne Calment

### Birth

Yvonne Marie Nicolle Calment was the daughter of Jeanne Calment, born on January 19th, 1898 and baptized on February 13th.

### Photos

#### Yvonne in the early 1900s

The photo of Yvonne on the left was posted on Facebook by Martine Crouanson on March 3rd, 2019. Martine is a first cousin twice removed of Fernand Calment on his father's side. The photo on the right is from the recent "revalidation" paper (taken from the Mediateque in Arles, fonds Fassin). Madame Calment described the dress she wore when attending the launch of a boat "La Jeanne" when she was a child: It was a white broderie anglaise with a big blue sash around the middle, tied in a bow at the back.

These school photos of Yvonne are from 1905 when she was in secondary courses.

Possibly pictured alongside her is Marie-Rose Galleron who also appears in a later group photo with Yvonne at St. Trophime.

#### Photos of Yvonne, Jeanne and Fernand together attending a baptism

The woman near Yvonne is Jeanne and the man to her right is Fernand with Maria Felix likely behind him. Yvonne carries Maria's stick and is dressed fashionably while Maria, the coowner of the tissue store, is dressed in exotic dress. Jeanne is dressed in much more dress than Maria and Yvonne. Photos are from recent "revalidation" paper. Nicolas Crouanson and Emile Fassin are probably here and the baby in Yvonne's (and probably Jeanne's) hands is likely Germaine Fassin. However, some observers think that Jeanne sits on the left in the first row.

#### First communion

Madame Calment said "I remember the first Communion even more! It was in a boarding school. Madame Benet's school... The classic white muslin dress. It was an authoritarian shape, almost a uniform. The straight dress in white muslin with lots of frills. A headdress was a wreath of flowers." This description fits Yvonne very well.

#### Yvonne circa 1911

This is the only photo inside the biography of Jeanne Calment by Jean Claude Lamy, apparently the author thought it was Jeanne. According to Paris Match, it is Jeanne Calment several months after meeting Van Gogh in 1888. Thus, we can assume it is Yvonne circa 1911.

#### Yvonne in early 1920s

This photo comes from Gilberte Méry and was shown in Paris Match in 2019. Here Yvonne sits near her future sister in law, Antoinette Billot. Another copy of this photo is dated April 8th, 1923, the 27th wedding anniversary of Jeanne and Fernand. Despite many relatives of Jeanne Calment living in Arles and Marseilles, Madame Calment was known to be virtually alone after the death of Frédéric. One exception was Antoinette Billot. They were often seen together and Josette Bigonnet, daughter of Antoinette (sitting with Madame Calment and Antoinette on the photo below), was her official heir. Josette said that in 1994, after moving to the Maison du Lac, Madame Calment ordered her to destroy her family archives and photos.

These photos appeared in the 1988 Paris Match article by Porlier. Yvonne most likely is wearing an engagement ring and her right eye could be already touched by infection. The photo on the right of Yvonne in St. Trophime also appeared in the book by Gabriel Simonoff. Until 2019, it was labeled as Jeanne Calment in all available internet sources including Wikipedia. In their interview to France 2 in 2019, Robine and Allard suggested that it is Jeanne around 45 years old on the left and Yvonne around 25 years old on the right, but both photos show Yvonne in her early twenties. Yvonne has prominent hands with bulging veins which are very similar to those of Madame Calment.

In these enlargements from the above two photos possible signs of Yvonne's early eye condition are visible.

#### Other photos in St. Trophime

These photos were found during the counter-investigation conducted by residents of Arles in 2019. The people were named on the other side which confirms that it was Yvonne in the photo from Paris Match and Simonoff book. Calvier and Galleron were probably her classmates mentioned in the 1910 article above.

In around 1930 she is pictured in St. Trophime, Arles. Left to right as named by niece of Germaine Fassin (granddaughter of sister of Maria Felix): Lefèvre, Calment, Madame Michotey, ?. The photo appeared on TF1 in 2019. It was donated to Mediateque in Arles by Pierre Fassin, brother of Germaine Fassin.
In comparison to teenager Noëlle Lefèvre (future Mme Belorgey) born in 1912, Yvonne looks old and her hair seem to be prematurely grey.

This photo was listed for sale online, it depicts a young Yvonne in costume offering a flower. Here, her engagement ring is absent, her eyes don’t seem to yet be swollen, and her smile lines aren’t as deep. The exact date is unknown, but it is most likely between 1915-1920. Her nose is noticeably larger than Jeanne’s here.

#### Other photos from the 1920s

June 11th, 1926 was the wedding of Calmille Sidonie Antoinette Billot. Yvonne (pregnant with Frederic) and Joseph are visible in this group photo from the Wedding of Nanette Billot and Pierre Flauder.

Yvonne Billot-Calment with Joseph Billot-Calment attending the wedding of Joseph's brother, Paul Billot, and Jeanne Guillet in Arles, May 14th, 1929. This photo came from their son Robert Billot (born 1931). Madame Calment told her validators that she had a very beautiful stole made of silver fox, with a tail and a head. She does not show visible signs of ill health, so one can assume that she recovered from the disease which forced Joseph to take a 5 year leave from the army in 1928.

#### Leysin

Robert Billot provided this photo of Yvonne, suggesting that she was pictured on holidays. This photo was taken on the terrace of the sanatorium Belvedere, Leysin, Switzerland. With Doctor Maurice Gilbert as its director, this sanatorium was reopened in late 1930 and specialized in treating patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. The major treatment method was heliotherapy. Trauma above the right eye is visible on this photo which was labelled as Jeanne Calment on the 1995 Figaro cover. Yvonne has unnaturally shiny hair, probably she used hair dye "Black henna" because of canities.

#### Single available photo of adult Yvonne and Jeanne together

In the article devoted to Madame Calment in the same 1995 Figaro, there is a single known photo of Jeanne and adult Yvonne together sourced to the article in local newspaper Provencal in Arles by Michel Gil. Yvonne has the same haircut and trauma above her right eye as on the Leysin photo.

#### Madame Calment with a photo of Yvonne

This photo of Yvonne was labelled as a photo of young Jeanne in newspapers. Madame Calment had it on her table in Maison du Lac and probably asked doctor Lebre to put it to her grave. Yvonne's hairstyle dates this photo to sometime in the early 1930s. Yvonne's chin and jaw look very similar to those of Madame Calment.

### School

Here we see that Yvonne studied at secondary courses in Arles. One of her classmates was granddaughter of midwife Madame Neviere. Madame Calment correctly said that Madame Neviere assisted Jeanne and her mother when they gave birth. She pronounced the name as "Leliere" but validators asked if she was Neviere, probably they studied the midwifes in archives (they said that they consulted archives to "reinject" facts for stimulation of her memory.

### Yvonne mentioned as a lottery winner in a newspaper

Here we see that Y. Calment had a 1000 Francs bond issued by an insurance company and in 1926 she won immediate pay out of this bond.

### Marriage

Yvonne married captain Joseph Billot on February 3rd, 1926. The two listed witnesses were François Calment and insurance agent Louis Ginoux. Ginoux also belonged to the velo club which gathered in 1914 at the same cafe Puech as the hunting society in which Fernand Calment (who was known to ride bicycle and thus probably also attended this velo club) was vice president from 1907.

According to the biography by Simonoff, upon meeting with his son's future parents-in-law, Joseph's father mistakenly takes Jeanne for Yvonne. Joseph's sister also later recounted that at the 'magnificent' wedding of Yvonne and Joseph, it was possible to mistake Jeanne for Yvonne. This confirms that Jeanne looked both very young for her age (51 at the time) and very similar to her daughter.

These pictures from the wedding of Yvonne and Joseph were taken by the photographer Em. Barral who had also taken many of the costume festival pictures above. They were provided by Robert Billot. Curiously, the description of the unusual Jeanne's wedding dress provided in the biography by Cavalie perfectly matches Yvonne's dress.

### Death

Yvonne officially died on her birthday, January 19th, 1934. The witness Josephine Audibert (without profession) had signed multiple death acts in 1934 and before.

The funeral was held on January 20th, 1934 and the body was buried in the familial grave. A big crowd attended the funeral and apparently people were convinced that it was Yvonne who died. It is not known if Yvonne's name was written on the tombstone back then but now it is not present there since Madame Calment renovated the grave after death of her husband and Yvonne's son, Freddy. Their names are present on the grave.

### Photo Comparison

Yvonne was very similar to Madame Calment.

    Yvonne is above, Madame Calment is below. Photos enhanced in Remini app.

Yvonne is on the left and Madame Calment is on the right. Wrinkles and other facial features match very well. Photos enhanced in Remini app.

Yvonne is on the left, Madame Calment is on the right. Her nose drooped. Eye color is light green, not black as stated on the Identity Card for Jeanne Calment.

Yvonne is on the left, Madame Calment on the right

The seating manner of Madame Calment (with Joseph Billot-Calment, alone and with Antoinette), is similar to that of Yvonne (with Antoinette, alone and with Joseph) and corresponds well to her "masculine" character. According to those who believe in the official version, Madame Calment is ~80 and 114 years old on these photos. Geriatrician Valery Novoselov smiles.

The nose is similar for young Yvonne and old Madame Calment. Note that tip of the nose can droop with age.

Yvonne at different ages on the left, Madame Calment on the right in the comparison.

### Modified photos

Here on the left is Madame Calment after Faceapp rejuvenation and smiling, on the right Yvonne after smiling faceapp. Note that software does not change bone and nose shape. It is hard to deny the visual similarity. Cutting the left part of one face and pasting it over another and vice versa shows that the argument of those who deny the switch possibility that they were not similar is weak.