Adam Rainer: The Dwarf Who Grew To Be A Giant (And One Of The Tallest People Ever)
Public DomainAdam Rainer grew by a few feet in his 20s and early 30s.
Most of the tallest people in the world were tall or normal-sized early in life. But Adam Rainer was so short that he was actually classified as a dwarf — until he underwent a shocking growth spurt in his 20s that increased his height from 4 feet, 6 inches tall to 7 feet, 8 inches tall.
Born in 1899 in Graz, Austria, Rainer was just 4 feet, 6 inches tall when World War I broke out. Though Rainer attempted to enlist and fight in the war, doctors declared that he was ineligible to serve — the cut-off height was 4 feet, 10 inches — and officially classified him as a dwarf.
Then, something unexpected happened. Starting at age 21, he experienced an astounding growth spurt that would see his height increase by a few feet. By the time Rainer was in his early 30s, he stood over 7 feet tall.
Doctors who examined Rainer during the 1930s believed that he had an extreme case of acromegaly, a condition caused by a tumor in the pituitary gland. This type of tumor triggers abnormal growth because of an overproduction of growth hormones.
For Rainer, it also caused a number of health problems. Though he was still a young man, he tired easily, started to lose his hearing, and could no longer form a normal “bite” because of the huge size of his tongue.
Oscar HirschAdam Rainer’s height increase made him one of the tallest people in the world — but it also destroyed his health.
In 1930, he had an operation to remove the tumor. It successfully slowed his growth, but it wasn’t able to stop the extreme curvature of his spine. Rainer also suffered from other health issues, including loss of vision.
Adam Rainer spent his final years in a home for the elderly in Austria, where he eventually died at the age of 51. To this day, he’s the only known man to be both a dwarf and one of the tallest people ever.
