Lili Elbe (1882 - 1931) was a trans woman and one of the first identifiable recipients of male to female sex reassignment surgery. She was born as a male in Denmark. Born as Einar Mogens Wegener, she identified as male for most of her life and was a successful artist with that name. After the surgeries, however, she took the name Lili (some sources state Lily) Elbe.
Elbe's year of birth is sometimes referred to as 1886. This appears to be from th...
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Lili Elbe (1882 - 1931) was a trans woman and one of the first identifiable recipients of male to female sex reassignment surgery. She was born as a male in Denmark. Born as Einar Mogens Wegener, she identified as male for most of her life and was a successful artist with that name. After the surgeries, however, she took the name Lili (some sources state Lily) Elbe.
Elbe's year of birth is sometimes referred to as 1886. This appears to be from the book about her, which has some facts changed to protect identities. Factual references to Gerda Gottlieb's life indicate that the 1882 date is correct as they clearly married while at college in 1904.
Einar met Gerda Gottlieb at the Copenhagen Art School (Kunstakademie) and they married in 1904, when Einar was 22 and Gerda 19. He and Gerda worked as illustrators, with Einar specializing in landscape paintings while Gerda illustrated books and fashion magazines. Apparently, Einar noticed a propensity towards female dress while modeling for...
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