Lili Ilse Elvenes, better known as Lili Elbe, was a Danish painter, transgender woman, and one of the earliest recipients of sex reassignment surgery.
Elbe in 1926
Gerda Gottlieb, 1904
Elbe c. 1920
Elbe in 1930
The Danish Girl is a 2015 biographical romantic drama film directed by Tom Hooper, based on the 2000 novel of the same title by David Ebershoff, and loosely inspired by the lives of Danish painters Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. The film stars Eddie Redmayne as Elbe, one of the first known recipients of gender-affirming surgery, Alicia Vikander as Wegener, and Sebastian Koch as Kurt Warnekros, with Ben Whishaw, Amber Heard, and Matthias Schoenaerts in supporting roles.
Theatrical release poster
Buffalo, New York theater showing the film
Focus Features funded the renovation of Lili Elbes' grave in Dresden
Image: Eddie Redmayne by Gage Skidmore