Vladimir Putin and the rise of the powerful 'short kings'

Like Napoleon, Vladimir Putin may have designs to take over Europe, but this is not the only similarity he shares with the diminutive dictator. Accusations that Putin suffers from a "Napoleon complex" – acting aggressively in an attempt to compensate for his physical stature – might be "overly simplistic and potentially problematic", psychologist Emma Kenny told The Sun. Yet it is true that "height can play into how a leader is perceived, especially when they're interacting with taller counterparts on the international stage".

What is the Napoleon complex?

To understand why his height deserves attention, "one has to understand the significance of Putin's cult of personality in cementing his rule" said the Kyiv Post. Over the years Putin has sought to portray a tough-guy image in a series of infamous photoshoots, but "even the best publicity stunts cannot alter reality – or in this case, Putin's average height".

He is "famously self-conscious about his height", said The Express, which reported that the Russian premier was left "red-faced" in 2015 when aides forgot to tell a group of women invited to the Kremlin not to wear high heels, leaving several of the guests "towering over" him. He is officially 5ft 7in tall, but the paper estimated he could in fact be as short as 5ft 2in. Like his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong Un, Putin has been photographed wearing heeled shoes to boost his elevation. The Russian leader's detractors abroad have also "seized on his size", reported The Times. In 2014, the Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky described Putin as a "schizophrenic of short stature" for taking Russia and Ukraine to the brink of war. After Russia's full invasion began in 2022, the Tory MP Julian Lewis told the House of Commons that Putin was "firmly in the grip of small-man syndrome". Accusations that he suffers from "Napoleon complex", acting aggressively in an attempt to compensate for his diminutive height, might be "overly simplistic and potentially problematic", psychologist Emma Kenny told The Sun. Yet "height can play into how a leader is perceived, especially when they're interacting with taller counterparts on the international stage".

How does Putin measure up to other leaders?

"World leaders don't always publicise their height, which means estimating often comes down to comparing them as they stand beside one another or with other celebrities whose heights are public," said Business Insider. What is true is that Putin is in surprisingly similar company on the world stage. Standing at 5ft 3in tall, Italy's PM Giorgia Meloni – who is the same height as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen – was awarded damages last year from an Italian journalist who made fun of her petite stature on social media. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva measure just over five-and-a-half feet, while French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy both stand between 5ft 6in and 5ft 7in. Keir Starmer, at 5ft 8in, is half an inch taller than the global male average height. China's President Xi Jinping is slightly taller at 5ft 9in, "unusually tall" compared to the Chinese average and "the country's tallest leader for decades", said The Express. By contrast, US President Donald Trump (6ft 2in, according to his driving licence, even though he claims to be 6ft 3in) and Serbia's hardline president Aleksandar Vucic (6ft 6in) are among the world's tallest power-players. Their ranks will soon be joined by incoming German chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is also 6ft 6in. The title of world's tallest leader, however, goes to Albanian PM Edi Rama, who has an inch on his Serbian and German counterparts.

Does it actually matter?

"In politics, height matters," declared The Economist in 2020. Not only are US presidents "becoming taller relative to average Americans" but research suggests that "long-limbed politicians outperform their stumpier rivals" in the polls because "taller people enjoy higher self-esteem, on average, and are perceived to be healthier, more intelligent and more authoritative." This is borne out by the so-called "presidential height index" which found "the taller of the Republican and Democrat candidates emerged victorious in 58% of US presidential elections between 1789 and 2008", The Guardian reported. Yet the idea that height is bound up with leadership and masculinity is "looking increasingly shaky" as older "notions of patriarchy wobble" and a "new generation of short kings rise", said The New European. For Maureen Dowd in The New York Times, "true stature" is more than physical measurements. While Putin has always been "puffing out his bare chest on horseback; fishing shirtless in Siberia; winning staged judo and hockey displays", Ukraine's president Zelenskyy "understands that stature is not about phony macho photo shoots". "Stature is a physical quality," Dowd concluded, "but, more important, it is a human and moral quality." "We all – pundits, politicians, the public – should try to stifle the notion that tallness grants superiority and shortness is a shortcoming," wrote Gideon Lasco, professor of anthropology at the University of the Philippines, in Sapiens. "By participating in a politics of diminution, we diminish our politics."