Sultan Kösen (born 10 December 1982) is a Turkish farmer who holds the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

for tallest living male at . Kösen's growth resulted from the conditions

gigantism Gigantism (, ''gígas'', "wiktionary:giant, giant", plural γίγαντες, ''gígantes''), also known as giantism, is a condition characterized by excessive growth and height significantly above average height, average. In humans, this conditi ...

and

acromegaly Acromegaly is a disorder that results in excess growth of certain parts of the human body. It is caused by excess growth hormone (GH) after the growth plates have closed. The initial symptom is typically enlargement of the hands and feet. There ...

, caused by a

tumour A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue (biology), tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tiss ...

affecting his

pituitary gland The pituitary gland or hypophysis is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans, the pituitary gland is located at the base of the human brain, brain, protruding off the bottom of the hypothalamus. The pituitary gland and the hypothalamus contr ...

. Due to his condition, he uses

crutch A crutch is a mobility aid that transfers weight from the human leg, legs to the upper body. It is often used by people who cannot use their legs to support their weight, for reasons ranging from short-term injuries to lifelong disabilities. Hi ...

es to walk.

Biography

Kösen, a Turkish man of ethnic Kurdish descent, was born in the village of Alibey in

Mardin Province Mardin Province (; ; ; ) is a province and metropolitan municipality in Turkey. Its area is 8,780 km2, and its population is 870,374 (2022). The largest city in the province is Kızıltepe, while the capital Mardin is the second largest ci ...

of Turkey. Kösen was unable to complete his education because of his height; he instead worked part-time as a farmer. He describes the advantages of being tall as being able to see a great distance and being able to help his family with domestic tasks such as changing light bulbs and hanging curtains. He lists disadvantages as not being able to find clothes for his legs measuring and for his arms with a sleeve length measuring or shoes that fit (his once record-breaking length of for left and for right foot, whereas his hands are the longest measured in a living person at ), as well as finding it difficult to fit into an average-sized car. From 2002 to 2003, Kösen briefly played for Turkish basketball club Galatasaray S.K. Starting in 2010, Kösen received Gamma Knife treatment for his pituitary tumour at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

Medical School and was provided with medication to control his excessive levels of

growth hormone Growth hormone (GH) or somatotropin, also known as human growth hormone (hGH or HGH) in its human form, is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction, and cell regeneration in humans and other animals. It is thus important in ...

. It was confirmed in March 2012 that the treatment was effective in halting Kösen's growth. In October 2013, Kösen married

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

-born Merve Dibo. In an interview, he said that his biggest problem with his wife is communication. He speaks Turkish but his wife speaks only

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. The pair divorced in 2021 citing the language barrier as one of the key problems. On 13 November 2014, as part of Guinness World Records Day, Kösen met, for the first time, the world's shortest man ever recorded, Chandra Bahadur Dangi (, at an event in London. The difference between their heights was 196.4 cm (6 ft 5.32 in). In 2014, Kösen joined the Magic Circus of

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

and participated in various shows around the world. In 2022, he celebrated his 40th birthday by visiting the Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum in

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, United States, and posing next to a life-sized statue of

Robert Wadlow Robert Pershing Wadlow (February 22, 1918 July 15, 1940), also known as the Alton Giant and the Giant of Illinois, was an American man. He is the list of tallest people, tallest person in recorded history for whom there is irrefutable evidence. ...

, the tallest man ever recorded, at 272 cm (8 ft 11.1 in).

Records

On 25 August 2009, Kösen's standing height was recorded at in his home country by ''Guinness World Records'', overtaking former world record holder

Bao Xishun Bao Xishun (also known as Xi Shun; born November 2, 1951) is a Chinese herder, herdsman from Chifeng, Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, recognized by ''Guinness World Records'' as one of the world's tallest living men at tall. He was formerly certified ...

, who stands tall. Kösen also holds the current Guinness record for the largest hands, at , and the second-largest feet: (left foot) and (right foot). On 25 August 2010, according to the

, a height of up to had been confirmed by doctors, who stated that this might be Kösen's actual height, artificially lowered by scoliosis and bad posture. On 9 February 2011, Kösen was remeasured by ''Guinness World Records'' at . They also remeasured his hands at , which broke his previous record.

References

External links

Dünyanın en uzun insanı bir Türk – NTV

The Tallest Man in the world
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kosen, Sultan 1982 births Living people People with gigantism People from Mardin World record holders Turkish Kurdish people

Biography

Records

References

See also

External links