Rumeysa Gelgi

This article is out of date. Tallest living woman is Zhang Ziyu, at 2.21 m.

Rumeysa Gelgi (born 1 January 1997) is a Turkish advocate, researcher and web developer. She is the tallest living woman confirmed by Guinness World Records. She also holds the titles of largest hands (female), longest fingers (female), longest back (female) and previously held the title of tallest living female teenager given by Guinness World Records. She is 215.16 cm (7 ft 0.71 in) tall.

Gelgi lives in the Karabük province of Turkey. Her height is caused by Weaver syndrome, a rare condition which causes rapid growth among other abnormalities. It affects men three times more than women. Because of her condition, she usually uses a wheelchair to move, but can walk for short periods of time with a walker. Due to her condition, she cannot sit in seats under 50–55 cm.

Gelgi says that she wishes to use her title to raise awareness of diseases and conditions such as hers.

On 28 September 2022, Gelgi was able to fly on an airplane for the first time in her life. Turkish Airlines had to place a stretcher on six chair rows in one of their planes to make her trip from Istanbul, Turkey to San Francisco, California, U.S. a possibility. The event got media attention and was shown in a Guinness World Records documentary titled Rumeysa: Walking Tall.

See also

• Sultan Kösen, the world's tallest living person (also from Turkey)
• Zeng Jinlian, the tallest woman ever to live

References