This explains why Napoleon was often perceived as small even in his own time, despite the evidence pointing to the contrary, and earned him the nickname ‘Le Petit Caporel’.A particularly scatological cartoon from 1798, for instance, showed Napoleon standing pantsless on the French coast and farting out a storm of balloons and guillotines aimed at the English.īut the “tiny Napoleon” trope did not start until 1803, according to Tim Clayton, a British expert on Napoleonic-era propaganda. It was that year that saw the publication of a famed cartoon known as “Maniac ravings or Little Boney in a strong fit.” Whilst this isn’t terribly tall for today’s standards, the average adult male in France at the time was around 5 feet 5 inches in modern international units – so in reality Napoleon was actually taller than average for his time.Įqually, it suited Napoleon’s opposition to depict him as an angry midget or ‘petty tyrant’, and The British Tory press sometimes depicted Napoleon as much smaller than average height in the name of propaganda, and this image stuck.įinally, Napoleon was often seen with his personal bodyguards, The Imperial Guards who were broad and above average height. So 5’2” in pouce is 5’6” in feet and inches. The pouce, a pre-revolution unit used in France is slightly longer than a British inch.

However, historians have now been able to re-evaluate Napoleon’s height and it all boils down to a mistranslation between French and English measurements. The conventional wisdom is that Napoleon compensated for his lack of height by seeking power, war, and conquest – in short (if you’ll pardon the pun) he is now associated with inferiority complexes.

His height was recorded as 5 feet 2 when he died, which doesn’t exactly make for the most intimidating of leaders. Sadly that was the truth for Napoleon Bonaparte. Giving your name to a psychological complex isn’t something most people would want to be remembered for, worsened by the characterisation of overly-aggressive or domineering social behaviour, and the implication that such behaviour is compensatory for the subject’s stature, and worsened still when in truth you aren’t even that small.

Napoleon Bonaparte is famous (or infamous) for many things, but the one that seems to stick is that he was short, with a psychological condition – Napoleonic Complex – being named after him. Myths Debunked: The short Truth About Napoleon’s Height

How tall was napoleon