Myth 9 of 10
9. Myth: Napoleon was short
Napoleon Bonaparte stood about 1.69 metres, a common height for a Frenchman of his time. The reputation for being short came from a mix-up of measurements and enemy propaganda.
French inches and English caricatures
After Napoleon's death in 1821, his height was recorded as 5 feet and 2 inches. The catch is that these were French units, which were larger than English ones. Converted, the measurement comes to about 1.69 metres.
Read in English units, the same note would give only about 1.57 metres. That is how the smaller number spread through the English-speaking world and then the rest of the world.
British propaganda helped. The caricaturist James Gillray drew Napoleon as a nervous, petulant little man, and the image stuck. The affectionate nickname given by his soldiers, the little corporal, also reinforced the impression.
He also often appeared surrounded by the Imperial Guard, whose soldiers were chosen partly for their height. Next to them, anyone would look smaller.
Studies of recruitment records from the period indicate that the average height of Frenchmen was below 1.70 metres. In other words, Napoleon was within the average, or even a little above it.
Confusion over units of measurement is not just a thing of the past. In 1999, NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter was lost on arrival at Mars because one team used English units and another used the metric system.
Did you know? Napoleon was born in Corsica in 1769, a year after the island passed from Genoese to French control.
