Lili elbe born

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The book, Man Into Woman, was first published in 1933 in Danish and German and English editions quickly followed (including reissues of the English version in 1953 and 2004).

lili elbe born

It could have been justified why friends and acquaintances of the couple were wondering why Gerda allowed and even encouraged Lili in her transsexual strivings, especially given the strict social norms against such freedoms at the time. Man Into Woman was one of the first widely available books about a transgender person’s life and because of this, it was inspirational.

As a result, she encouraged Lili to dress up as a woman and pose for her during the many years of their marriage.

Using the name Lili, the young person began to reveal her real personality. Another discussion occurred on the third day in the Institute and a renewed blood sample, since the results of the first haemogram had turned out clearly female.

She was married to Gerda Wegener, a successful Art Deco illustrator and painter known for her slightly erotic, yet Secessionist style. There she underwent the first of four operations in 1930, a surgical castration procedure. After marrying Gerda Gottlieb, Elbe discovered her true gender identity and began living as a woman. Although Elbe was likely born with Klinefelter Syndrome, her conscious journey towards femininity began while posing for her wife’s paintings.

How Lili Elbe Was Born

The couple married happily in 1904.

Instead, she became focused on her mismatched body and how to rectify it.

Long before her first operation, Lili—who had clearly become uncomfortable with her biological constraints—would regularly leave the house wearing dresses and a wig. Lili herself gave up painting for the latter part of his life.

However, the performance of a penis amputation (penectomy) is open since details of the operation were not precisely addressed. In that year, her marriage to Gerda was also annulled by the King of Denmark.

Although she had accomplished her personal mission to physically become a woman, it was hard for other people to accept her new body.


  • Birth Year: 1882
  • Birth date: December 28, 1882
  • Birth City: Vejle
  • Birth Country: Denmark
  • Gender: Transgender
  • Best Known For: Lili Elbe was a transgender Danish painter who was among the first-ever documented recipients of sex reassignment surgery.
  • Industries
  • Astrological Sign: Capricorn
  • Nacionalities
  • Occupations
  • Death Year: 1931
  • Death date: September 13, 1931
  • Death City: Dresden
  • Death Country: Germany

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  • Article Title: Lili Elbe Biography
  • Author: Biography.com Editors
  • Website Name: The Biography.com website
  • Url: https://www.biography.com/artists/lili-elbe
  • Access Date:
  • Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
  • Last Updated: September 30, 2022
  • Original Published Date: September 8, 2015

Lili Elbe—The First Known Transgender Woman Artist

Lili Elbe—born Einar Wegener—was a Danish landscape painter of the early 20th century and the first known transgender woman in arts.

But this dream would never be realized. He emphasised the “women” in Women’s Clinic in this connection and indicated thereby the then external appearance. Consequently, Elbe felt rejected by many of her contemporaries. As a teenager, he traveled to Copenhagen to study art at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Traveling throughout Europe, the couple finally settled down in Paris in 1912 and Einar transitioned his public identity to Lili and lived openly as a woman for the last 20 years of her life.

Her talented wife gained increasing recognition as an artist by depicting her Lili’s feminine appearance in a style that became her own.