He Bet on an Old Woman Dying Soon. She Became the Oldest Person in History.

The Deal

In 1965, André-François Raffray was a 47-year-old lawyer in Arles, a city in the south of France. He entered into a viager contract with Jeanne Calment, a 90-year-old woman who owned an apartment in the city center. The deal was simple and common in France: Raffray would pay Calment 2,500 francs per month for the rest of her life, and when she died, the apartment would become his.

At 90, most actuarial tables would have given Calment a few years at most. The apartment was worth approximately 200,000 francs. Raffray expected to get a bargain.

The Wait

Calment didn't die. She kept living through the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s. She outlived almost everyone she knew. She took up fencing at 85. She was still riding a bicycle at 100. At 114, she appeared in the film Vincent and Me, becoming the oldest person ever to appear in a movie.

Every month, Raffray sent his check. The payments kept accumulating. By the time they passed the apartment's market value, Calment showed no signs of slowing down.

The Outcome

André-François Raffray died on Christmas Day, 1995, at the age of 77. Jeanne Calment was still alive. Under French law, his family was legally obligated to continue the monthly payments. His widow kept sending checks until Calment finally died on August 4, 1997, at the age of 122 years and 164 days — the oldest verified person in recorded history.

Over 32 years of payments, Raffray and his family paid more than 900,000 francs for a 200,000-franc apartment. Calment reportedly told reporters: "In life, one sometimes makes bad deals."