Famous Danes
Many Danes have contributed to world-wide entertainment, discoveries and the transformation of culture. Here are a few worthy characters of Danish descent.
Art
Andersen, Hans Christian (1805-1875); the writer and poet of novels, plays, fairytales, and poems.
August, Bille (1948- ); a movie director who has received several awards for his work. Movies include: 'Pelle the Conqueror' 1987, 'The House of Spirits' 1993, 'Smilla’s Sense of Snow' 1992, and 'Return to Sender' 2004.
Blixen, Karen (1885-1962); a writer, who published her books under synonym names – e.g. Isak Dinesen. The life of Karen Blixen is depicted in the movie 'Out of Africa' 1985, starring Meryl Streep as Karen Blixen.
Borglum, Gutzon (1867-1941); an artist and sculptor born of Danish immigrants, famous for creating the monumental presidents' heads at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota.
Borge, Victor (1909-2000); a humorist and entertainer, who settled in the US after fleeing Denmark
when it was occupied by the Nazis during World War II.
Christensen, Helena (1968- ); a fashion model, working as one of the leading supermodels of the 1990's.
Christensen, Jesper (1948- ): a Danish actor. Has won several awards for his performances. Playing Mr. White in 'Casino Royale' 2006.
Jacobsen, Arne (1902-1971); Danish architect and designer part of the "Danish Modern" style. Jacobsen is perhaps most famous for his furniture designs, such as 'The Egg Chair', 'The Ant Chair' and 'The Swan Chair'.
Hein, Piet (1905-1996); Danish scientist, designer, poet, and author. Hein is most famous for his 'Grook's' books and his 'Superegg'.
Jorn, Asgar (1914-1973); Danish painter and eassayist. Founding member of the Situationist International and COBRA, an European avant-garde movement, active from 1949-1952.
Kierkegaard, Søren Aabye (1813-1855); a philosopher and writer. Kierkegaard is among other things known as “the father of existentialism”.
Mikkelsen, Mads (1965-); currently one of Denmark's most popular movie actors. He is well known from 'Blinkende Lygter' (English: 'Flickering Lights') 2000. Internationally Mikkelsen is known from 'King Arthur' 2004 and 'Casino Royale' 2006.
Mortensen, Erik (1926-1998); a fashion designer who became world famous through working in Paris for many years.
Mortensen, Viggo (1958- ); an actor, son of a Danish father and a American mother. Movies include: 'Lord of the Rings' 01-2003, 'Hidalgo' 2004, and 'A History of Violence' 2005.
Nielsen, Birgitte (1963- ); a tall Danish actress. Nielsen is best known for her performances in 'Rocky IV' 1985, 'Cobra' 1986. Nielsen was married to Sylvester Stallone from 1985-1987.
Nielsen, Carl August (1865-1931); a composer. Internationally Carl Nielsen is best known for his six symphonies. Of these the best known are Symphony no. 2, 'The Four Temperaments', and 'Symphony no. 4 The Inextinguishable'. In Denmark most people know and sing his songs.
Nielsen, Connie (1965- ); an actress. Movies include: 'Gladiator' 2000, 'One Hour Photo' 2002, 'Basic' 2003, 'Return to Sender' 2004.
Redzepi, Rene (1977- ); chef and co-founder of the Copenhagen restaurant 'Noma'. Noma was listed by Restaurant Magazine in 2009 as the third best restaurant in the world, after 'El Bulli' in Spain and 'The Fat Duck' in England. The name Noma is a contraction of the words "nordisk" (Nordic) and "mad" (food).
Riis, Jacob (1849-1914); born in Ribe and moved to New York. Riis is most famous for his revealing photographs of the New York slums and his book 'How The Other Half Lives' 1890.
Thomsen, Cicilie (1974- ); a fashion model who starred in 'Tomorrow Never Dies' 1997 as Inga Bergstrom.
Trier, Lars von (1956- ); a movie director. Lars von Trier has received recognition for his work through several awards. Some of his best known movies are: 'Breaking the Waves' 1996, 'Dogville' 2003, and 'Antichrist', 2009.
Ullrich, Lars (1963- ); the drummer of the heavy metal band 'Metallica'.
Utzon, Jørn (1918-2008); Danish architect and designer of the Sydney Opera House in Australia.
Wiinblad, Bjørn (1918-2006); Danish painter, designer, and artist in ceramics.
Business
Christiansen, Ole Kirk (1891-1958); founder of LEGO. LEGO is a short name for "leg godt" (play well).
Clausen, Jørgen M. (1948- ); The Danfoss Group's President and CEO between 1996 and 2008. The Danfoss Group is a global producer of components and solutions for refrigeration and air, heating and water, and motion controls.
Kristiansen, Kjeld Kirk (1947-); was the President and CEO of Lego between 1979 and 2004.
McKinney Møller, Arnold Mærsk (1913- ); son of Arnold Peter Møller. McKinney Møller was the chairman and CEO between 1965 and 1993. McKinney Møller was the first non-American member of the board of IBM between 1970 and 1984.
Møller, Arnold Peter (1876-1965); founder of the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group, known as Mærsk, in 1904. Mærsk is the largest shipping company in the world.
Explorer
Rasmussen, Knud (1879-1933); Greenlandic polar explorer and anthropologist. The first to cross the Northwest Passage via dog sled.
Religion
Grundtvig, Nikolaj Frederik Serverin (N.F.S.) (1783-1872); a poet, pastor and founder of what in Denmark is known as højskole (Folk high school).
Scientist
Bohr, Niels Henrik David (1885-1965); a physicist, he received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1922 for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them.
Brahe, Tycho (1546-1601); an astronomer and scientist he has had a great influence on the development of astronomy and science in general.
Ørsted, Hans Christian (1777-1851); a physicist who discovered electron magnetism and aluminum.
Sport
Andersen, Morten (1960- ); Mortensen, born in Copenhagen became an NFL kicker, starting his career in 1981 at Michigan College. He retired from the sport in 2008.
Carstensen, Jacob (1978- ); a swimmer who won the world title in the 400m freestyle at the 1997 FINA Short Course World Championships.
Friis, Lotte (1988- ); in 2009 won Friis the World Champions in 800m freestyle.
Jacobsen, Mette (1973- ): a championships swimmer. World champion in 1995, 1999, and 2000. Here specialties are backstroke and butterfly.
Laudrup, Brian (1969- ); a retired professional soccer player. Was named by 'Pele' as two of the top 125 greatest living soccer players. Laudrup played on several top teams in Europe.
Laudrup, Michael (1964- ); a retired professional soccer player who played on some of the top teams throughout Europe, Juventus in Italy and Barcelona in Spain.
The Danish Royal Family
The Danish Royal Family; The Danish monarchy is one of the oldest monarchies in the world. The Danish monarchy can be traced back to the year 958, when Gorm the Old ruled. Today, it is Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II who represents Denmark.
