📖A Piece of History - Lili Elbe 📖

(Image description: Sage green background with a black and white photo of Lili Elbe on the left hand side. Lili is holding a fan out and has a pearl necklace on. to the Right of the image is text that reads 'A Piece of History. Lili Elbe. 28th December 1882 - 13 September 1931'.)

Lili Elbe

28th December 1882 - 13th September 1931

Lili Elbe, was born December 28th 1992 in Vejle Denmark and was a Danish painter. Lili Elbe was a trans woman who experienced what is now called ‘Gender Dysphoria’, and underwent the worlds fist documented sex reassignment surgery. 

Beginning early in the first decade of the 20th century, Lili studied art at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and met Gerda Gottlieb (this was before Lili identified as female and was living her life as her gender assigned at birth). The two fell in love and got married around 1905. According to the book, Lili wrote about her transition into a transgender woman (Fra Mand til Kvinde {1931: Man into Woman}), she realised her true gender identity when Gerda - a successful painter and fashion illustrator (as well as illustrator of lesbian erotica)} asked Lili (who at this time was still presenting male) to wear women's clothing and sit as her model. Lili became a regular model for Gerda's paintings. The couple eventually moved to Paris where Lili felt free to appear in public sometimes as male and other times as Lili Elbe. Once Lili started her transition, herself and Gerda had their marriage annulled. 

(Image description: Image 1 is a painting of Lili by Gerda. The painting shows Lili leaning on a purple cushion, she has a pink dress on with a matching pearl necklace and earring set on. She has 1 ring on each hand that look as if they are diamonds with a ruby in the centre. Lili has short brown hair, rosy blushed cheeks, and brown eyes. Image 2 is another painting of Lili by Gerda. This painting shows Lili in another pink dress, this one is more of a magenta pink. She sat on a chair with her legs slightly up and snake print heels on. She has a cigarette in her mouth and is holding playing cards in her hands.)

Before Lili underwent her first surgery, it had been determined by her physician that she had more female than male hormones and likely had what is now known as Klinefelter syndrome, a disorder of the sex chromosomes that occurs in males. The first of five highly experimental surgeries that Lili underwent was performed in 1930 by German gynaecologist Kurt Warnekros and examined by German physician and sexuality theorist Magnus Hirschfeld.

The series of operations included the removal of the male genitals and then having a uterus and ovaries transplanted into her. 

Unfortunately Lili died in 1931, just three months after the final surgery. Her cause of death was cardiac arrest brought on by an infection. She was 48 years old. 

(Image description: Image 1 is a black and white photo of Lili leaning on a garden table. She's wearing a long coat with a furry hood and a small bonnet like hat, she is also holding some paper, possibly a letter. Image 2 is another black and white photo of Lili standing in a garden holding her hands at the front of her body. She is wearing a light coloured skirt that stops mid shin, a long sleeve top with a knitted vest over the top, the vest has a zigzag pattern at the bottom. She's wearing a big pearl necklace and a large sunhat.)

The story of her transition was published shortly after her death with pseudonyms applied to all people named in the book. Her story has since been retold in The Danish Girl (2000), a novel by David Ebershoff, and a major feature film by the same name in 2015 with Eddie Redmayne starring as Lili Elbe.

You can see some of Lili's paintings here 

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