Igor Vovkovinskiy ( uk, Ігор Вовковинський, Ihor Vovkovynskyj; September 18, 1982 – August 20, 2021), also known as Igor Ladan, was a

Ukrainian-American Ukrainian Americans ( uk, Українські американці, Ukrayins'ki amerykantsi) are Americans who are of Ukrainian ancestry. According to U.S. census estimates, in 2021 there were 1,017,586 Americans of Ukrainian descent represen ...

law student, actor and tallest living person in the United States, at , briefly taking the record from

George Bell George Bell may refer to: Law and politics * George Joseph Bell (1770–1843), Scottish jurist and legal author * George Alexander Bell (1856–1927), Canadian pioneer and Saskatchewan politician * George Bell (Canadian politician) (1869–1940) ...

. Originally from Ukraine, Vovkovinskiy moved to

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic. Acco ...

in 1989 to be treated at the

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

. At that time, he was already at least six feet tall.Meet the tallest man in the world
60 Minutes Australia (23 June 2018) Vovkovinskiy acted in commercials and films, including the 2011 comedy '' Hall Pass'', and became better known for wearing a T-shirt that read "World's Biggest Obama Supporter" to a

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

rally. He was the first official tallest living person from two countries. He joined singer

Zlata Ognevich Inna Leonidivna Bordiuh ( uk, Інна Леонідівна Бордюг, Inna Leonidivna Bordiuh, ; born 12 January 1986), known professionally as Zlata Ognevich ( uk, Злата Огнєвіч, Zlata Ohnievich, links=no, ), is a Ukrainian sing ...

in representing

Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 Ukraine participated in Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Gravity" written by Karen Kavaleryan and Mikhail Nekrasov. The song was performed by Zlata Ognevich. The Ukrainian broadcaster National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU) organi ...

.Eurovision Song Contest won by Denmark

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

(19 May 2013) Vovkovinskiy's height was attributed to a

tumor A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

pressing on his

pituitary gland In vertebrate anatomy, the pituitary gland, or hypophysis, is an endocrine gland, about the size of a chickpea and weighing, on average, in humans. It is a protrusion off the bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain. The ...

, causing it to release an excessive amount of

growth hormone Growth hormone (GH) or somatotropin, also known as human growth hormone (hGH or HGH) in its human form, is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction, and cell regeneration in humans and other animals. It is thus important in h ...

. In 2019, he said on his YouTube channel that he was undergoing treatment for a heart condition. Vovkovinskiy was hospitalized for

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...

and died on August 20, 2021, four weeks before his 39th birthday.

References

External links

*
60 minutes Australia
2012
IgorTheUkrainian
His YouTube channel {{DEFAULTSORT:Vovkovinskiy, Igor 1982 births 2021 deaths People with gigantism People from Bar, Ukraine Ukrainian emigrants to the United States

See also

References

External links