Many Danes have contributed to world-wide entertainment, discoveries and the transformation of culture. Here are a few worthy characters of Danish descent.

Tycho Brahe (1546-1601); a brilliant astronomer and scientist of his time, and has had a big significance on the development of astronomy, science in general, and our view of the world.

 

Jørn Utzon (1918-2008); Danish architect and designer of the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

 

Arne Jacobsen (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.

 

The Egg Chair (1958). Image courtesy of Klassik Moderne Møbelkunst (www.klassik.dk)

 

Piet Hein (1905-1996); Danish scientist, designer, poet and author. Hein is most famous for his "grook" books and his Superegg. 

Hans Christian Ørsted (1777-1851); a physicist who discovered electron magnetism and aluminum. 
 

Asger Jorn (1914-1973); Danish painter and eassayist. Founding member of the Situationist International and COBRA, a European avant-garde movement, active from 1949-1952.

Le droit d’aigle (1950). Image courtesy of KUNSTEN Modern Museum of Art, Aalborg

 

Jacob Riis (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).

Nikolaj Frederik Serverin (N.F.S.) Grundtvig (1783 - 1872); a poet, pastor and founder of what in Denmark is known as højskole (Folk high school).

Hans Christian Andersen (1805 - 1875); the writer and poet of novels, plays, fairytales and poems.

H.C. Andersen by C. A. Jensen (1836). Image courtesy of Odense City Museums, Collections of H. C. Andersen Portraits
 

Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813 - 1855); a philosopher and writer. Kierkegaard is among other things known as “the father of existentialism.”

Karen Blixen (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 and Robert Redford as Denys.

Karen Blixen in Rungstedlund, 1957. Photograph by Hugo Hellsten, courtesy of www.kulturplakaten.dk
 

Carl August Nielsen (1865 - 1931); a composer, internationally Carl Nielsen is best known for his six symphonies. Of these the best known are Symphony n. 2, The Four Temperaments, and Symphony n. 4, The Inextinguishable. In Denmark most people know and sing his songs.

Niels Henrik David Bohr (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.

Victor Borge (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. 

Victor Borge. Image courtesy of www.wikipedia.org

 

Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941); an artist and sculptor born of Danish immigrants, famous for creating the monumental presidents' heads at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, as well as other public works of art.

 

Rene Redzepi (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).

 

Arnold Peter Møller (1876-1965); founder of the A.P. Møller-Mærsk Group, or Mærsk, a Danish business conglomerate. Mærsk is the largest shipping company in the world.

 

Arnold Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller (1913-); son of Arnold Peter Møller and billionaire.

Erik Mortensen (1926 -1998); a fashion designer who became world famous through working in Paris for many years.

Bille August (1948 - ); a movie director who has received several awards for his work. Movies include: Pelle the Conqueror, The House of Spirits, Smilla’s Sense of Snow, Return to Sender.

Lars von Trier (1956 - ); a movie director. Lars von Trier has received recognition for his work through several awards. Movies: Breaking the Waves, Dogville, Manderlay.

Viggo Mortensen (1958 - ); an actor, and a son of Danish father and American mother. Movies include: Witness, 28 Days, Lord of the Rings, Hidalgo, A History of Violence.

Morten Andersen (1960 - ); an NFL kicker that started his career in 1981 at Michigan College.

Morten Andersen. Photograph by Ric Feld/POLFOTO, courtesy of www.avisen.dk

Lars Ullrich (1963 - ); the drummer of the heavy metal band Metallica.

Michael Laudrup (1964 - ); a retired professional soccer player who played on some of the top teams throughout Europe, Juventus in Italy and Barcelona in Spain. He is known as one of the most skillful and elegant players of the game and is still very popular among fans. He is currently coaching a Danish top team.

Connie Nielsen (1965 - ); an actress. Movies include: Gladiator, One Hour Photo, Basic, Return to Sender.

Helena Christensen (1968 - ); a fashion model, working as one of the leading supermodels of the 1990's.

 

Brigitte Nielsen  (1963 - ); a tall stature actress.  Movies include: Red Sonja, Rocky IV, Cobra.

Brian Laudrup (1969 - ); a retired professional soccer player. He and his brother were named by Pele as two of the top 125 greatest living soccer players. Brian Laudrup played on several top teams in Europe, but unfortunately, he was forced to retire at age 31 due to an injury.

Cecilie Thomsen (1974 - ); a fashion model who starred in Tomorrow Never Dies as Inga Bergstrom.

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 who is representing Denmark. The Queen’s main tasks are to represent Denmark abroad and to be figurehead of the state.