Luisa Burkert was known as ‘The Tallest Woman in the World’ and at the age of 67 she became the oldest person to have a record spanning fourteen centuries. She achieved this by being one of the tallest people in Western Europe, at the age of about five hundred years, and was known to be the world’s third longest living person, beating Rembrandt from Holland who was seven hundred years older. Her title is somewhat misleading given that she was also one of the thinnest. At the time of her death she was described by neighbours as having an unusually large personality and having a tendency to speak out or make comments in front of others.
Being of such a remarkable height and having such a unique personality makes it difficult to imagine any women of her era having a job or socialising with the same regularity as she did. However, she was an exceptional example of what the occupation of an architect entails and was to live up to these expectations for many years. At an early age she decided to pursue a career in architecture, a career which required someone of extraordinary strength, skill, determination and, at times, an ability to take charge. It was said of her that she had a clear mind that could be focussed only on one thing, whatever that thing was. Being able to tackle large jobs such as those of the Grand Master of the Ancient Academy of Saint John in Milan in the thirteenth century, she clearly possessed the best of both worlds, being at once an individualist and a member of an organised profession, and it is these qualities which we might today consider to be common in successful architects.
Her career as an architect did not come to an end at the end of the thirteenth century, but was actually sparked off by a more unexpected event. Having attended a ball which boasted some pretty tall figures, she found that her standing made her feel very tall, and so she decided to challenge herself by walking the length of the court in order to see just how tall the members of the audience were. When she came to the top of the ball, all the male audience looked up to congratulate her, with the exception of one elderly gentleman who turned around to giggle at her expense. This experience inspired Burkert to continue to challenge herself in different ways, and although she never became an architectural master like the greats, she accomplished a great deal in her short time as a professional.