Lives Remembered: Chandra Bahadur Dangi

Chandra Bahadur Dangi toured the world

UNTIL he entered the record books as the world’s shortest man ever, Chandra Bahadur Dangi had never left the remote village in Nepal where he was born.

 

That all changed in February 2012 when it was officially proven that at 1ft 9.5in Dangi was half an inch shorter than the previous holder of the record. 

He was then already in his early 70s but he embraced the adventure of international travel, saying he wanted to use his status to promote his native country abroad. 

He met the world’s shortest woman, Jyoti Amge of Nagpur, India, in 2013 for an event marking the 58th edition of Guinness World Records. 

The following year he flew to London to meet and be photographed with 8ft 3in Sultan Kosen from Turkey, who was named the world’s tallest man. 

 

Dangi was born in Reemkholi, a village in the Dang district of Nepal, more than 300 miles away from the capital Kathmandu. 

The same height as six cans of baked beans he was born with primordial dwarfism, a condition which results in smaller body size at all stages of life, beginning even before birth. 

Three of his five brothers were all less than 4ft tall but the other two brothers and his two sisters were of average height. 

It is rare for those born with the condition to live past 30 but Dangi earned his living as a farmer and craftsman until a wood contractor spotted him in his village. 

Dangi subsequently joined Tupa’I Bruno’s magic circus in Samoa and was on tour in the South Pacific when he became ill. 

The exact cause is not known but it is thought Dangi was suffering from pneumonia when he died. 

In a statement Guinness World Records said he was an iconic and extraordinary record holder.