Are there any?, you may be asking yourself, and it is probably fair to say that few people outside Denmark would be able to mention more than a couple of Danes who have achieved international recognition. But there are indeed some, and you will probably be familiar with at few of them.

Contemporary Danes

• Thomas Bjørn, golfer
• Tom Kristensen, race driver 
• Helena Christensen, supermodel & photographer
• Johan Kobborg, principal dancer with the Royal Ballet in London
• Brian and Michael Laudrup, football brothers
• Viggo Mortensen, Lord of the Rings actor, who has a Danish father
• Connie Nielsen, actress
• Peter Schmeichel, footballer
• Sandi Toksvig, comedienne, writer and broadcaster, whose father was Danish
• Lars von Trier, film maker
• Jørn Utzon, architect – his most famous work is undoubtedly the Sydney Opera House

Famous Danes

The Dane that most people will probably have heard of is Hans Christian Andersen, who is listed here, along with others who have also made their mark on history in one way or another.

• Hans Christian Andersen, the famous fairy tale writer. The bicentenary of his birth was widely celebrated in 2005
• Vitus Bering, explorer – the Bering Strait is named after him
• Karen Blixen, author of, among others, ‘Out of Africa’
• Niels Bohr, physicist and Nobel Prize winner
• Victor Borge, entertainer
• August Bournonville, ballet dancer & choreographer
• Arne Jacobsen, the architect of many buildings, and designer of such style icons as the egg chair, the swan chair etc.
• Søren Kierkegaard, philosopher
• Carl Nielsen, composer
• Bertel Thorvaldsen, sculptor
• Lauritz Melchior, Opera composer
• Tycho Brahe, Astronomer
• Piet Hein, Poet