How tall was Napoleon?
There is an urban myth that Napoleon was very short. This stems primarily from the fact that he is listed as 5 feet 2 inches tall at the time of his death. However, this is 5 feet 2 inches in old French units. In modern international units, he was between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 7 inches (1.68 meters). Although he would be considered quite small in stature nowadays, it was even slightly above average height for a European man at his epoch.
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What are your thoughts on this subject?
102 Comments
Steven Ernest Scott
Speaking of "English" that should be "you're", which is the contraction of "you are".
Toni Stebar
Boo foul! In French meters at the time of his life he was 5' 2". Not fair we got it wrong because your using English measurement.
Lydia Coutts
They provided the height in metres too, so quit yer griping. :p
Len Gassmann
According to Wikipedia he was 5'2". Someone is wrong. This should not be.
Larry Freeman
"In fact, he was 1.68 metres (5 ft 6 in) tall, an average height for a man in that period". Direct copy and paste quote from Wikipedia, 'Image' section. Someone is wrong!
Bill Coe
Rick Shomin He was nicknamed The Little Corporal (le petit caporal) after his victories at the Italian border. The name, roughly translated to "low ranking" or "unknown" corporal, was given to him by his soldiers in 1796 when Napoleon, then a very young and unknown corporal was in charge of the lacklustre and demoralized French army at the Italian border. A heroic episode of crossing a bridge at the Battle of Lodi that year endeared him to the French and brought him recognition as a leader. Contrary to popular myth, the name 'little' was not in reference to his height (he was 5 foot 7 inches (170 cm) tall, taller than average for a Frenchman of his time).
Rajnish Gautam
Answer and reference are misplaced. Refer wikipedia and other sources.
John McLardie
5' 2" in French Units (5' 7" in Standard Units). He was actually 2 inches taller (at 5' 7") than a man of average height for the period.
David Holmes
Once again everyone is squabbling over the answer, I was taught in High School history (over 50 years ago) that he was about 5' 6" in height.
Joni Miller
I've seen his boots and fear at a museum in Paris, the man was tiny,I also read that he was 5 foot 2 in different references...
Dolores Wieland
Toni Stebar, English question, English answer..5'6".....I've known this for years...
Karin Johansson
Raphael Bruckner, no he wasn't. He was actually shorr floe gis time. And most kings were longer than him
Karin Johansson
Skye B Hanson, But it isn't.
Karin Johansson
Larry Freeman, not the only source saying that. Everyone i saw said it.
Karin Johansson
Saw one source say 5' 7"
Patti McKenna Witalis
Need consistent basis for your answers....
Kathleen Gaffney Jaworowski
An unfair question!
Mike Hamilton
5'6 is correct, in the modern day
Eric Foelker
Does this mean someone with a Napolean Complex is misleading according to historical fact.
Christopher Bargiel
I got it right just because I knew 5-6. However again someone said wikipedia had it different. Sorry but it just proves that wikipedia is not always right!!!! It is wrong quite often. Computer basics!!! GIGO garbage in garbage out. If you program a computer to say 2+2 is 3 and 3+3 is 7 then that is what it will
mdwilliams
Even though the French thought he was "UUGGGE", ...he had tiny hands and was rude, and made crude remarks to his rivals. WAIT....who are we talking about ???.....