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We propose that Jeanne Calment constitutes a modern myth that conveys many stereotypes such as the extension of life expectancy, the effective and personalized concretization of a change of paradigm, and the consecration of the French standard as a model of longevity (especially female). The construction of Jeanne Calment as a celebrity was only possible because of very particular circumstances: the duration of her reign as the oldest woman in history, the very solid validation of her age, and the concordance between the “real” Jeanne Calment and the character that the media created and maintained. This article proposes to return to the origins of this modern myth.