Madge Bester

Madge Bester
Born	26 April 1963
Height	2 ft 1.5 in (65 cm)

Madge Bester (born 26 April 1963) is the world's former shortest living woman.^[1] From South Africa, she measures 2 ft 1.5 in (65 cm) in height which was measured in 1991. Bester has osteogenesis imperfecta, which is characterized by brittle bones, and uses a wheelchair.^[2] She has been a campaigner for disability rights, holding a 1998 press conference on the issue accompanied by Lin Yih-Chih, the world's smallest man.^[3]

Bester lives in a retirement village in Bloemfontein. Her mother Winnie, who died in 2001, also suffered from osteogenesis imperfecta and measured only 70 cm.^[2]

References

1. Murphy, Wendy (2002). Orphan Diseases. Twenty-First Century Books. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-7613-1919-1. viewed at Google Books
2. Sampson, Lin (2005). Now You've Gone 'n Killed Me. Oshun. pp. 40–44. ISBN 978-1-77007-049-3., viewed at Google Books
3. "World's shortest man, woman campaign for disabled". CNN News Asia (Cable News Network). 3 November 1998. Retrieved 2008-12-10.