Adam Rainer (1899 – 4 March 1950) was the only person in recorded history to have been both a dwarf and a giant. He is believed to have had acromegaly.
Rainer was born in Graz, Austria-Hungary (present day Austria), in 1899. In 1917, at age 18, he was measured at 122.55 cm (4 ft 0.25 in), then in 1918, at age 19, he was measured at 111.5 cm (3 ft 7.9 in). As a child of normal parents, Adam Rainer was described as very small, thin and weak up to his 21st birthday. In 1917 and 1918, therefore he was refused entry into the Austro-Hungarian Army to take part in the First World War.
A typical defining characteristic of dwarfism is an adult height below 147 cm (4 ft 10 in). Then, likely as a result of a pituitary tumor, he had a dramatic growth spurt so that by 1932 at the age of 33, he had reached a height of 218 cm (7 ft 2 in). Two doctors examined him in detail between August 1930 and May 1931. His height was 216 cm (7 ft 1 in).
A benign pitutary adenoma was found, which was responsible for the enormous growth. Oskar Hirsch removed the adenoma. As a result of his gigantism, he later became bedridden for the rest of his life.When he died in 1950 at the age of 51, he had reached a height of 234 cm (7 ft 8 in). He went from US shoe size 10 (EUR size 43) at age 19 to size 20 (EUR 53) only three years later.
As he grew, his health declined, with his curved spine eventually leaving him unable to stand on his own. His eyesight and hearing grew worse, and he eventually died aged 51, measuring 7 feet 8 inches tall (2.34 m), the tallest man in Austria.
There are currently no other known instances of a person being classified as both a dwarf and a giant across their lifetime.
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