Biography of Poul Henningsen

Poul Henningsen was born on September 9, 1894 in Ordrup, Denmark. As the illegitimate son of Agnes Henningsen and the writer Carl Ewald, Poul Henningsen had three older half-siblings, the children of his mother and her ex-husband Mads Henningsen. Agnes Henningsen is a single mother and initially works as a hairdresser, before increasingly focusing on the themes of love and sexuality as a writer and also living an independent life in her private life. Poul Henningsen grew up freely among his mother's changing acquaintances in Denmark's intellectual scene at the beginning of the 20th century.

Training and first drafts

In 1911, at the age of 18, Poul Henningsen enrolled at the Frederiksberg Technical School, which he left in 1914 to study for three years at the Technical College in Copenhagen. Henningsen also dropped out without graduating in 1917 and worked as a painter and inventor in his own design studio, which he founded in 1919, unimpressed by his lack of a university degree. Here, Pouls Henningsen was already experimenting with artificial light, its diffusion, reflection and effect. In the same year, Henningsen married Else Strøyberg, who remained his wife until 1942.

Exhibition and award

At the "Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs" in Paris, which opened on April 28, 1925 and lasted until October, Henningsen's PH lamp, a forerunner of his later lamp designs, was awarded a gold medal. Arne Jacobsen also makes his first appearance at this exhibition. Henningsen works with the Danish company Louis Poulsen on the production of his first PH luminaire. Just one year after receiving the award, his luminaire design was installed in public spaces by Forum Copenhagen.

Escape and freedom

In the years that followed, an entire PH luminaire family was created, consisting of ceiling, table and wall lightfor which Louis Poulsen took over worldwide distribution and which Louis Poulsen has also manufactured itself since 1941. For the Tivoli amusement park in Copenhagen, Henningsen designs a lighting system that can be darkened so that it cannot be seen by airplanes. In this way, the park can remain open until midnight. During the occupation in the Second World War, Poul Henningsen received death threats and fled to Sweden by boat in a night and fog operation. Here, in Stockholm, he lived temporarily like many Danish artists.

The Inger era

Inger Andersen had been supporting Poul Henningsen as a secretary since the late 1930s. They complemented each other perfectly and eventually Andersen and Henningsen married in 1943. Inger took her husband's surname and brought two daughters into the marriage. One of them, Tove, became the wife of the future designer Verner Panton in 1950. Inger is the rock at Henningsen's side. She supported his work and shielded him - if necessary - when anonymous callers tried to threaten him. In the 1950s, some of Poul Henningsen's most important lamp designs were created, all of which were produced by Louis Poulsen.

International acceptance

The designer's initials lend their name to the PH lights collection from Louis Poulsen. The luminaire family, consisting of PH Artichoke or PH Zapfen, PH Snowball, PH Charlottenborg and a series of wall, table and ceiling luminaires, also all begin with the initials and are then supplemented by numbers. The acceptance of Poul Henningsen's artistic work in the design scene is reflected in the fact that Ludwig Mies van der Rohe used the PH luminaire in his private house, the Vila Tugendhat, in Brno, Czech Republic.

Equal rights and the not-for-profit idea

In addition to his achievements in lighting design, Poul Henningsen is also socially active. He criticized society, denounced abuses and - like his mother - campaigned vehemently for equal rights for women in society. Only four years after his mother Agnes, Poul Henningsen died at the age of 72 on January 31, 1967 in Hillerød, north of Copenhagen, Denmark. His wife Inger was at Henningsen's side until his death, having already taken much of his burden in the years before when Parkinson's disease paralyzed him. After his death, Inger and Louis Poulsen kept the memory of Poul Henningsen's life and work alive with a foundation initiated in the year of his death to promote the charitable ideas that Poul Henningsen fought for.

Multi-talented Poul Henningsen

Poul Henningsen was active as a cabaret artist, DesignerPoul Henningsen was a cabaret artist, lighting designer, writer, critic, architect without a degree, but above all he was one of the most colorful public figures in Denmark in the 20th century.