Lili Elbe (Lili Ilse Elvenes) is considered one of the first individuals to ever be an identifiable recipient of a documented transgender procedure. It occurred in 1930. She was born Einar Wegener in 1882. During her life, she became a landscape painter. And at one point in her life, she posed for a painting by her wife and fellow artist, Gerda Gottlieb.

In 1930, Elbe went to Germany for sex reassignment (transgender) surgery. It was very experimental at the time. A total of 4 operations would be needed. The first required the removal of the testicles. It was done under the supervision of Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld in Berlin. Elbe's other surgeries were carried out by Dr. Kurt Warnekros at the Dresden Municipal Women's Clinic in Germany.

With the second operation, it was done to implant an ovary onto Elbe's abdominal musculature. The third was to remove the penis and the scrotum, and the 4th was to transplant a uterus and construct a vaginal canal.

At the time of Elbe's last surgery, her case was a major sensation in Danish and German newspapers. They provided news on the Wegeners' marriage, which was invalidated by a Danish court. News also noted that Elbe acted to have her sex and name legally changed. Since Elbe and Gottlieb were no longer man and wife, their marriage was officially dissolved in October 1930.

Elbe developed an infection after her fourth operation. She died in September 1931 from cardiac arrest brought on by her infection.

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