Pauline Musters, a 19th-century Dutch woman who stood 61 centimeters (24 inches) tall, is historically recorded as the shortest adult female, though medical classifications of her exact condition remain debated.
Key Details • Name: Pauline Musters • Lifespan: 1876–1895 • Height: 61 cm (2 ft / 24 in) • Medical Context: Extreme short stature like Musters' is sometimes evaluated as a unique or unclassified growth anomaly rather than standard clinical dwarfism (which is medically defined as an adult height of 4 feet 10 inches or less). Modern record-holders for shortest living woman, such as Jyoti Amge, have diagnosed forms of dwarfism like achondroplasia or primordial dwarfism.
Chandra Bahadur Dangi from Nepal is the shortest verified adult human in history without a classic skeletal dysplasia-related dwarfism, standing at 21.5 inches (54.6 cm). Understanding Extreme Short Stature Chandra Bahadur Dangi was confirmed by Guinness World Records in 2012 as the shortest man ever recorded.
