Madge Bester is believed to be the world's shortest living woman. From South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, she measures 2 ft 1.5 in (65 cm) in height which was measured in 1991. Bester has osteogenesis imperfecta

Osteogenesis imperfecta

Osteogenesis imperfecta is a genetic bone disorder. People with OI are born with defective connective tissue, or without the ability to make it, usually because of a deficiency of Type-I collagen...

, which is characterized by brittle bone

Bone

Bones are rigid organs that constitute part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells and store minerals. Bone tissue is a type of dense connective tissue...

s, and uses a wheelchair. She has been a campaigner for disabled rights, holding a 1998 press conference on the issue accompanied by Lin Yih-Chih, the world's smallest man.

Bester lives in a retirement village in Bloemfontein

Bloemfontein

Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...

. Her mother Winnie, who died in 2001, also suffered from osteogenesis imperfecta and measured only 70 cm.