Biography of Einar Mogens Wegener, Lili Elbe

Einar Mogens Wegener was born on December 28, 1882, in the small town of Vejle, Denmark.

As a child, he was an artistic and precocious boy.

During his adolescence, he traveled to Copenhagen to study art at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts.

There, he met Gerda Gottlieb, who was also a student at the same institution, and they fell in love, starting a relationship.

In 1904, the couple Einar and Gerda, aged 22 and 19 respectively, got married.

The two artists enjoyed painting together.

While Einar had a fondness for landscape painting, Gerda was a successful illustrator of books and fashion magazines.

To collaborate on her illustrations, Einar served as a model and began to wear women's clothing for his Art Deco portraits of high-society women.

Through these experiences, Einar began to imagine life as a woman, taking great pleasure in this experience.

Traveling through Europe, the couple finally settled in Paris in 1912, and Einar made the transition to his public identity living openly as a woman for the last 20 years of her life.

They chose the surname “Elbe” in honor of the Elbe River in Central Europe, which runs through Dresden, the location of her last sex reassignment surgery.

You can watch the documentary about Lili Elbe's life on YouTube:

But the story has a bizarre detail: Einar Mogens Wegener, known as Lili Elbe, was one of the first people to undergo sex reassignment surgery and live openly as a woman in a time when society was very conservative.

The Danish Girl, the 2015 biographical film, tells the story of Lili Elbe and her journey to become the woman she always wanted to be.

Lili Elbe is an inspiring example of courage and determination, and her story continues to inspire people all over the world.