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
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

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