World’s Shortest Man Chandra Bahadur Dangi Dies At Age 75
Chandra Bahadur Dangi, the world’s shortest man, has died at the age of 75.
According to the New York Daily News, Dangi, who stood 21.5 inches tall, was suffering from pneumonia when he was admitted to the Lyndon B. Johnson Tropical Medical Center in Pago Pago last week. He passed away on Thursday evening.
“Guinness World Records (GWR), the global authority in record breaking achievements, is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Mr Chandra Dangi, who held the title of shortest man in the world,” the Guinness World Records said in a statement following Dangi’s passing.
“GWR would like to express its sincere and heartfelt condolences to Mr Dangi’s family in this difficult time,” the statement added. “He will be remembered forever as an iconic and extraordinary record holder.”
Dangi, a Nepalese man with primordial dwarfism born in 1939, earned his title of the “World’s Shortest Man” in 2012 after rumors circulated that he was shorter than the original record holder, a 23.5-inch man in the Philippines.
The record keepers traveled to Kathmandu to measure Dangi and determined that his 21.5-inch height made him the shortest person in the world. After he was crowned with the record, he met the world’s shortest woman Jyothi Amge, a two-foot Indian woman from India.
In November 2014, Dangi was able to travel to London to meet the world’s tallest man, Sultan Kosen, a man from Turkey who stands eight-foot three-inches tall, to celebrate Guinness World Records Day.
“Even though he is short and I am tall, we have had similar struggles throughout our lives and when I look into Chandra’s eyes, I can see he’s a good man,” Kosen told the Daily Telegraph in 2014.
“It’s been a lifelong dream to travel and becoming a Guinness World Records title holder has enabled me to do that,” Dangi said at the time. “I’m honored to be in London, I’ve always wanted to visit and the fact I get to meet Sultan is special. It makes me extremely proud to represent Nepal all around the world, I’m extremely humbled by the support I receive.”
The next man in line for the title is said to be Junrey Balawing from the Philippines, who is just two inches taller than Chandra Dangi.
[Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images]
