Christine Jorgensen, original name George William Jorgensen, Jr., (born May 30, 1926, New York, New York, U.S. died May 3, 1989, San Clemente, California), American who captured international headlines in the early 1950s as the first person in the United States to undergo a successful gender-reassignment operation. From an early age, Jorgensen was tormented by feelings of being a woman trapped inside a man’s body. Jorgensen served in the U.S. Army (1945–46), moved to Denmark, and worked at various jobs. After being treated with extensive psychotherapy and a series of hormone injections, Jorgensen underwent several surgical operations and, with the announcement