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A myth. Average for a Frenchman of 1800. Slightly above it, even.
Where it came from
At his death in 1821 Napoleon was measured at 5 pieds 2 pouces. The French inch, the pouce, was about 2.7 cm, longer than the English inch, so the figure came out near 1.69 m. Read as English feet and inches, it became a puny 5 ft 2.
British caricaturists, James Gillray above all, drew him as “Little Boney”, a tantrum-throwing child in an oversized hat. His nickname le petit caporal was affectionate, not a measurement, and he was usually surrounded by his Imperial Guard, who had to meet a minimum height.
What’s actually true
At about 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in) Napoleon was of ordinary height, slightly taller than the average French conscript of his day. The “Napoleon complex” is named after a man who did not have the trait it describes.
Further reading
- Andrew Roberts, Napoleon: A Life (2014)
- Wikipedia: Napoleon complex