Shortest woman in the world
Pauline Musters
Pauline Musters (February 26, 1878 – March 1, 1895) was a Dutch woman. She is recognized by the Guinness World Records as the shortest woman ever recorded, standing at only 24 inches (61 cm) tall. Musters was born in 1878 in Ossendrecht in North Brabant province, The Netherlands.
She was the seventh child of carpenter Michiel Musters (1843–1889) and Anna Maria Couwenbergh. She had five sisters and three brothers. At birth, she measured 11.8 in (30 cm). At age nine, she was 1 ft 9.5 in (54.61 cm) and weighed 4 lb 5 oz. Pauline Musters is regarded as the fourth shortest documented person (after Muhammed, Dangi, and Junrey Balawing of the Philippines) and as the shortest documented woman of all time.
Jyoti Amge
Jyoti Kishanji Amge (born 16 December 1993)is an Indian actress notable for being the world’s shortest living woman according to the Guinness World Records. Following Amge’s 18th birthday on 16 December 2011, she was officially declared the world’s shortest living woman by Guinness World Records with a height of 62.8 centimetres (2 ft 3⁄4 in). Her restricted height is due to a genetic disorder called primordial dwarfism. In 2012,
she met the world’s shortest man, Chandra Bahadur Dangi of Nepal. The pair posed together for the 57th edition of the Guinness World Records. On 21 November 2024, she met Rumeysa Gelgi, the tallest living woman in the world, for the first time, at the Savoy Hotel in London.
Madge Bester
Madge Bester (26 April 1963 – 19 March 2018) was a former world’s shortest living woman.[1] From South Africa, in 1991, she measured 65 cm (2 ft 1.5 inches) in height. Bester had osteogenesis imperfecta, which is characterized by brittle bones, and used a wheelchair.
She was a campaigner for disability rights, holding a 1998 press conference on the issue, accompanied by Lin Yih-Chih, the world’s smallest man. Bester lived in a retirement village in Bloemfontein. Her mother, Winnie, who died in 2001, also had osteogenesis imperfecta and measured only 70 cm. Bester died on 19 March 2018, aged 54.
Lucía Zárate
Lucía Zárate (January 2, 1864 – January 15, 1890) was a Mexican entertainer with dwarfism who performed in sideshows. Zárate is the first person to have been identified with Majewski osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism type II. She was entered into the Guinness World Records as the “lightest recorded adult”, weighing 4.7 pounds (2.1 kg) at the age of 17.
She was born in Veracruz, Mexico, and settled in the Agostadero (later Cempoala), Veracruz. According to a 1894 article in Strand Magazine, Zárate achieved her full growth by the age of one year. Her family home, Casa Grande (Big House), is open to the public as a museum. After her circus train became stranded in the snowy Sierra Nevada mountains, Zárate died of hypothermia in 1890.
Bridgette Jordan
Bridgette Marie Jordan (June 9, 1989 – June 12, 2019) was the smallest living woman according to Guinness World Records at 2 ft 3in (69 cm). She was also one of the shortest living siblings according to Guinness World Records; her younger brother Brad was 38 inches tall at 20 years old.
The siblings were born with a rare genetic condition called Microcephalic osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism type II. Bridgette Jordan was the smallest woman in the United States; she lived in Sandoval, Illinois, and attended college at Kaskaskia College. She enjoyed dancing and cheerleading. She was on the cheer squad for Kaskaskia. She wore an infant size 2 shoe. Jordan received the record from the previous Guinness record holder, Elif Kocaman of Kadirli, Turkey, who measured 2 feet, 4.5 inches on September 20, 2011, but then lost the record to Jyoti Amge of Nagpur, India, on December 16, 2011, when Amge turned 18. In 2012, the Jordan siblings starred in Big Tiny, a reality series on TLC.
Jordan was born weighing in at 1 pound, 12 ounces, and was 12.5 inches long. Her brother Brad was born weighing 2 pounds, 4 ounces, and measured 13.5 inches long. Together, the two only reached 5 ft 5in. Brad Jordan died on February 21, 2017, at the age of 25. Bridgette Jordan died on June 12, 2019.
Elif Kocaman
A woman who once held the Guinness World Record for being the shortest woman in the world has died aged just 33, the Mirror reported. Elif Kocaman, who lived in the town of Kadirli in the Turkish Province of Osmaniye, spent a year as the Guinness World Record holder for the shortest woman in the world.
She remained the shortest woman in Turkey when she fell ill and was taken to the ICU on Tuesday . However, her condition worsened, and she passed away from multiple organ failure caused by pneumonia. Her passing was reported by local media on Thursday. Kocaman, who suffered from dwarfism, entered the Guinness World Records in 2010 for her short height of just 72.6 centimeters. The current shortest living woman is Jyoti Kisanji Amge of India, who is 62.8 centimeters. Elif Kocaman’s funeral has taken place, and her body has been buried in her hometown, Kadirli.