Ole Kirk Christiansen
Ole Kirk Christiansen | |
|---|---|
| Born | 7 February 1891 invalid month Filskov, Denmark |
| Died | 11 March 1958 (aged 66) |
| Nationality | Danish |
| Occupation | Carpenter |
| Known for | Founding the Lego company. |
Ole Kirk Christiansen (7 April 1891 – 11 March 1958) was the 10th son of an impoverished family in Jutland in western Denmark. Born in Filskov, Denmark, he trained as a carpenter and started making wooden toys in 1932 to make a living after having lost his job during the depression. In 1942 a fire broke out at the factory forcing them to rebuild. Initially, he made miniature versions of the houses and furniture he worked on as a carpenter, but in 1947 moved onto using plastics. By 1949 he had produced over 200 plastic and wooden toys.[1]
He came up with the name Lego from the Danish leg godt ("play well") and the company grew to become the Lego Group ("lego" coincidentally means "I put together" in Latin).[2] On March 11, 1958, when Christiansen died from a heart attack when he was 66 years old, his oldest son Godtfred Kirk Christiansen took over the company and bought out his three brothers. Ole Kirk Christiansen's grandson Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen is the current vice chairman of the board of Lego. He was chief executive until 2004, when Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, a former McKinsey consultant, became the new head.[citation needed]
Notes
- ^ "biography of Ole Kirk Christiansen". Biography-center.com. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
- ^ Mary Bellis (1 May 1954). "lego group timeline". Inventors.about.com. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
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