Portrait of Gerda Wegener

Birthday profile

Gerda Wegener

Gerda Wegener, Danish artist (died 1940)

Born
March 15, 1886
Died
July 20, 1940
Zodiac sign
Pisces
Birth year
1886

About Gerda Wegener

Gerda Marie Fredrikke Wegener was a Danish illustrator and painter. Wegener is known for her fashion illustrations and later her paintings that pushed the boundaries of her time concerning gender and love. These works were classified as lesbian erotica at times and many were inspired by her partner, transgender painter Lili Elbe. Wegener employed these works in the styles of Art Nouveau and later Art Deco. Later on in France, Wegener created work showing women displaying seductive power or engaging in sexual activities. Wegener won two sketching competitions in the Politiken newspaper. One was in 1908 and another in 1909 for best capturing "Copenhagen Women" and then "The figures of the Street." Wegener was known for her illustrations created for advertisements and was also a portrait painter.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Gerda Wegener was born

Gerda Wegener was born in 1886. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentFirst professional baseball game under electric lights
  • Top headlineStatue of Liberty dedicated in New York Harbor
  • Technology milestoneCoca-Cola invented in Atlanta
  • Notable inventionCoca-Cola (originally contained cocaine)
  • World population~1.46B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderGrover Cleveland
  • U.S. population55.6M

1886 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Gerda Wegener's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure18862026
Population55.6M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.