Talk:Napoleon vs Napoleon/@comment-27382513-20151221052129

Fun fact: Despite his supposed "dwarfism", Napoleon was actually 5'7", just two inches above the average height for a Frenchman in the 1800s (5'5").

However, French units of measurement differed from the system we New Zealanders use, and Napoleon was listed as being 5'2" at the time of his death.

There's also another reason he was documented as short. His personal bodyguards were all tall and broad, so there was a height requirement for them. So whenever he went, people saw he was small compared to his guards, thus earning him the name "Petit Caporal" (French for "little corporal"). In his day it was used as a term of affection and not as an insult.