Was Napoleon Bonaparte Really Short? The Height Confusion Explained
False. Napoleon was approximately 5 feet 7 inches tall (170 cm), which was average for a French man of his era. The myth arose from a conversion error between French and English measurement units, compounded by British wartime propaganda.
"Napoleon Bonaparte Was Unusually Short" is a myth. The scientific consensus is clear, the primary sources are documented above, and the exact origin of the false belief can be traced. Read on for the full evidence.
"Napoleon Bonaparte Was Unusually Short"
False.
Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the most famous short people in history. The only problem: he wasn't particularly short. At approximately 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm), Napoleon was average height for a French man of his time and class. The short Napoleon is among the most persistent historical misconceptions — a case study in how military propaganda, measurement confusion, and cultural momentum can fuse a false narrative into apparent fact. The truth has been known to historians for decades. It has had essentially no effect on popular belief. The myth also fed a broader cultural trope — the idea of the "short man with a chip on his shoulder" — that has been applied to leaders and public figures ever since, often on equally flimsy grounds.
The Measurement Conversion Error
French records — including military enlistment documents and descriptions by contemporaries — consistently place Napoleon's height at 5 pieds 2 pouces in the old French measurement system. This translates to approximately 170 cm, or 5 feet 7 inches in the modern metric and imperial systems. The confusion entered English-speaking culture through a straightforward unit error: "5 pieds 2 pouces" was rendered as "5 feet 2 inches" by English observers and scribes who assumed the French pouce (thumb) and the English inch were equivalent measures. They are not. A French pouce was approximately 2.71 cm; an English inch is 2.54 cm. The French height of 5 pieds 2 pouces equals about 170 cm. The erroneously translated "5 feet 2 inches" equals about 157 cm — the height of a short adult man by any standard. This single translation error, propagated through British documents during a period of intense military rivalry, seeded the myth. By the time it was widely noticed, it had already become cultural common knowledge.
British Wartime Propaganda
The measurement error was not corrected partly because it was politically convenient for Britain, which was at war with Napoleonic France for most of the early nineteenth century. British caricaturists — most famously James Gillray — depicted Napoleon as a tiny, comically rage-filled figure, often dwarfed by taller British officers. Gillray's cartoons were widely circulated and immensely influential. They shaped popular perception of Napoleon in a way that the man's actual physical appearance could not easily counter. This is a well-documented pattern in wartime propaganda: physical diminishment of the enemy leader serves both morale purposes ("look how small and ridiculous he is") and political ones ("his aggression is the overcompensation of an inferior"). The caricatures were so effective that they outlasted the war by two centuries. Wellington, who met Napoleon in person, described him as "below the common size" — but Wellington was 6'1" and surrounded himself with large Household Cavalry guardsmen. Napoleon, at 5'7", would indeed appear short in that context.
What Historical Records Show
The French military records at the Service Historique de la Défense in Vincennes include enlistment and officer assessment documents for thousands of French soldiers and officers, including Napoleon. These records corroborate the 5 pieds 2 pouces figure. Contemporaries who met Napoleon and left height comparisons include Tsar Alexander I of Russia (6'0"), who described Napoleon as shorter than himself — but shorter than 6'0" is consistent with 5'7", not 5'2". Napoleon's nickname among his soldiers, "le petit caporal" (the little corporal), was an affectionate term expressing camaraderie — the idea that the Emperor shared the common soldier's hardships. It was not a commentary on his physical stature. This is documented in regimental histories and memoirs of Napoleonic soldiers. The nickname is sometimes cited as evidence of his short stature, but this interpretation is not supported by contemporary usage. The phrase was used with warmth, not mockery.
The Verdict
Napoleon Bonaparte was not unusually short. He stood approximately 5'7" — average for a Frenchman of his period. The myth originated in a French-to-English measurement conversion error and was amplified by British wartime propaganda caricatures. Napoleon's nickname "le petit caporal" referred to camaraderie, not stature. Historians have known the facts for over a century, but the short Napoleon is too well-established in popular culture to be easily dislodged by accuracy.
Napoleon's Height in Historical Context
Understanding Napoleon's actual height requires understanding the context of height in the early nineteenth century. Average male height varied significantly by class, nutrition, and nationality in this period. Well-nourished upper-class men in Western Europe were typically taller than working-class men, who were often stunted by childhood malnutrition. Napoleon, born in Corsica in 1769 to a minor noble family, was reasonably well-nourished by the standards of his time. French military records from the Napoleonic period show that the average height of French male conscripts was approximately 165 cm (5'5"). Officers and those from more prosperous backgrounds were typically taller. Napoleon's documented height of 170 cm (5'7") placed him slightly above the average for his country and era. This is consistent with the picture that emerges from eyewitness accounts. Most contemporaries who left physical descriptions of Napoleon described him as slightly below medium height or average height, not as unusually short. Those who found him short were typically comparing him to the notably tall men — the Imperial Guard, for example, had a minimum height requirement of 5'10" (178 cm) — who surrounded him as a matter of deliberate protocol and visual staging. The Napoleon-is-short narrative was actively useful to British interests throughout the Napoleonic Wars. Britain and France were almost continuously at war between 1793 and 1815. Depicting the French Emperor as a small, rage-filled figure served obvious propaganda purposes, and Gillray's caricatures were consumed enthusiastically by a British public primed to find them believable. The caricatures were also artistically brilliant — Gillray was one of the greatest caricaturists in the history of the medium — and artistically brilliant propaganda tends to outlast the conflicts that generated it. Napoleon's height is now less historically important than the fact that the myth about his height has become a case study in the influence of wartime propaganda on long-term historical memory.
Primary Sources
- [1] Cronin, V. (1971). Napoleon Bonaparte: An Intimate Biography. HarperCollins. ↗ Source
- [2] Lemonnier-Delafosse, J. B. (1850). Souvenirs militaires (memoir, contemporary account). Service Historique de la Défense. ↗ Source
- [3] Dwyer, P. (2008). Napoleon: The Path to Power 1769–1799. Yale University Press. ↗ Source
Frequently Asked Questions
How tall was Napoleon Bonaparte really?
Approximately 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm), based on French military records. This was average height for a French man of his era. The widespread belief that he was around 5'2" comes from a conversion error: his French height of "5 pieds 2 pouces" was incorrectly translated as "5 feet 2 inches," ignoring that a French pouce was larger than an English inch.
Where did the Napoleon height myth come from?
It has two main sources: a unit conversion error (French pouces ≠ English inches) that made him appear shorter in English-language documents, and British wartime caricatures — particularly by James Gillray — that depicted Napoleon as a tiny, rage-filled figure for propaganda purposes. Both sources were politically motivated and mutually reinforcing.
What did Napoleon's nickname 'le petit caporal' mean?
"Le petit caporal" (the little corporal) was an affectionate nickname given to Napoleon by his soldiers to express his shared hardships and camaraderie with common troops. It was not a reference to his height. Contemporary military memoirs consistently describe the phrase as a term of warmth and respect.
Was Napoleon short for his time and place?
No. At approximately 170 cm (5'7"), Napoleon was slightly above the average height for French men of his era and class. French military conscript records from the Napoleonic period show an average male height of approximately 165 cm. Napoleon's height placed him comfortably in the upper half of the height distribution for his peer group.
Why did British people think Napoleon was short?
Two main reasons: the measurement conversion error (French pouces ≠ English inches) made documents appear to show a shorter height, and James Gillray's widely circulated caricatures depicted Napoleon as tiny and rage-filled for propaganda purposes. Gillray's caricatures were brilliant, widely consumed, and politically motivated. They shaped perception so effectively that the visual impression outlasted the actual facts by two centuries.
Who were some notably tall historical leaders?
Peter the Great of Russia stood approximately 6'8" (203 cm), making him genuinely unusual for his era. Abraham Lincoln was approximately 6'4" (193 cm). Charles de Gaulle was 6'5" (196 cm). Height has played an interesting role in political perception throughout history, with many studies showing that taller candidates tend to win elections in modern democracies — though this correlation is far from universal.
How We Verified This Claim
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For this myth — Napoleon Bonaparte Was Unusually Short — we reviewed the cited primary sources above, cross-referenced against independent scientific literature, and confirmed the verdict with the consensus position of relevant professional bodies (including the sources listed). The claim was then fact-checked against the SmartAss Facts database of over 5,000 verified facts to identify related content.
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