Mrs. Calment left no heirs. She also outlived Andre-Francois Raffray, a lawyer who 32 years ago, when she was merely 90, bought the apartment she used to live in on a contingency contract. He would pay her 2,500 francs (now about $400) a month until she died, and then the apartment would become his.
Mr. Raffray died a year ago at 77, after paying Mrs. Calment more than $180,000, better than double the apartment's market value. His family was still paying when she died.
''In life, one sometimes makes bad deals,'' Mrs. Calment said