Myth: Napoleon was short or small in stature
01/01/07 00:00 Filed in: Famous
People
Was Napoleon short in stature
(small)?
Myth
Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon I of France) was something of a small gentleman. Apart from the 'le petit caporal' monicar, it is said that Josephine de Beauharnais was taller than him.
Reality
Its easy to see how the confusion first started. Following his death in 1821, his height is recorded as 5 feet 2 inches. Not very big at all? Well, that's 5 feet 2 inches in FRENCH feet. Converting this into Imperial feet and inches and his height was in fact 5 feet 6.5 inches. This makes him average or even slightly taller than 'Pierre Public' in 19th Century France.
The term 'le petit caporal is merely a term of affection of camaraderies with ordinary soldiers and the 'petit' is not to be taken as literally 'small'.
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