Jens Nygaard Knudsen

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Jens Nygaard Knudsen (born January 25, 1942 , † February 19, 2020 in Hvide Sande ) was a Danish toy designer. As chief designer at Lego for many years , he was among other things the inventor of the Lego figures ("Lego men", "Minifigs").

Lego figures (minifigs) and car models

Knudsen applied for a job at Lego in Billund in 1968 . There he built hundreds of model cars from Lego blocks, some of which were then sold as kits. In the 1970s Lego expanded strongly and broadened the range of products to include various construction kits such as police stations, fire stations and the like that had been designed by Knudsen. When the expanding design team was then divided into several subgroups, he was against it because he wanted to do everything himself. He himself then began to develop the now known Lego figures, which were patented in 1978 . In 1979 a spaceship with the figures was voted "European Toy of the Year" at the Nuremberg Toy Fair . Due to increasing sales of the figures, of which more than eight billion had been produced by 2020, Lego had to hire 500 new employees, according to a later designer, and Knudsen was subsequently promoted to chief designer. He retired in 2000. There he continued to build and with Lego figures - partly as a freelancer, but mostly privately for his pleasure.

Jens Nygaard Knudsen was married and the father of three children.

literature

  • Mark J. Stafford: The Truth About Space! In: BrickJournal, Edition 6, Volume 2 Summer 2009, pp. 38–43.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jens Nygaard Knudsen. In: afdøde.dk, February 21, 2020, accessed on February 24, 2020 (obituary notice, Danish).
  2. ↑ Tobias Jochheim: Designer Jens Nygaard Knudsen: The father of the Lego man is dead. In: RP Online , February 21, 2020, accessed on February 24, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Thank you, Jens": the inventor of the Lego man died. In: svz.de , February 22, 2020, accessed on February 24, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Knudsen, Jens Nygaard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish toy designer (Lego)
DATE OF BIRTH January 25, 1942
DATE OF DEATH 19th February 2020
Place of death Hvide Sands