Trijntje Keever
Dutchwoman alleged to be the tallest female in recorded history.
Trijntje Cornelisdochter Keever (10 or 16 April 1616 – 2 July 1633), nicknamed De Groote Meid ('The Tall Girl'), was a Dutchwoman alleged to be the tallest female in recorded history. At the time of her death at age seventeen, she stood 9 Amsterdam feet, equivalent to approximately 2.54 metres (8 ft 4 in) in modern measurements.
Quick Facts
- Birth Name
- Trijntje Cornelisdochter Keever
- Birth Date
- 16 April 1616
- Birth Place
- Edam, Dutch Republic
- Death Date
- 1633-07-02
- Death Place
- Ter Veen, Dutch Republic
- Known For
- Tallest female in recorded history (alleged) / Third-tallest person ever (alleged)
- Height
- 8 ft
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Trijntje Keever was the daughter of Cornelis Keever, a Dutch skipper, and Anna Pouwels, his maid, whom he married on May 24, 1605. She was born on April 10 or 16, 1616, in Edam. Her parents took her to carnivals to earn money by letting people see her. Trijntje first received public attention when she was nine years old and had reached the height of 2 metres (6 ft 7 in). A royal company consisting of the Bohemian king Frederick V, Elector Palatine, his wife Elizabeth of Bohemia and the princess Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, living in The Hague at the time, visited her, curious about the 'nine-year-old girl taller than every man in Europe'.
Reader's Guide
Trijntje Keever's significance lies in her being alleged to be the tallest female in recorded history, a claim based on her measured height of 9 Amsterdam feet (2.60 m) at age seventeen. Her life illustrates how extraordinary physical stature was treated in the 17th century: her parents displayed her at carnivals for income, and royalty visited her out of curiosity. Her legacy is preserved through a lifesize painting in the townhall of Edam, her epitaph, and her original shoes (European size 54, 36 cm long). While modern records verify taller women such as Zeng Jinlian, Keever remains a notable historical figure, with her height recorded in an archaic Dutch measurement system. The uncertainty in her birth date (10 or 16 April) and the lack of modern verification of her exact height leave her status as 'tallest female' as an allegation rather than a confirmed fact.
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