He Pingping, the world’s shortest man, has died. He was just 21.
The 29-inch-tall Pingping died in Rome from heart trouble, a Guinness Book of World Records spokesman said Monday.
Pingping was in Italy to appear on a local television show when he was stricken with chest pains last week.
“He brightened up the lives of everyone he met, and was an inspiration to anyone considered different or unusual,” said Craig Glenday, editor in chief of the Guinness Book of World Records. “He was someone special. He had such a cheeky smile and mischievous personality you couldn’t help but be charmed by him.”
Pingping took New York City by storm when he visited in September 2008.
He posed for photographs with a city cop, next to a fire hydrant and in bustling Grand Central Terminal.
“I wanna pick him up and put him in my purse!” said one woman on the street.
Pingping was born in Wulanchabu, China, with a form of primordial dwarfism.
He was officially recognized as the world’s shortest adult in March 2008.
