Ole Kirk Christiansen (7 April 1891 – 11 March 1958) was the founder of the Danish construction toy company The Lego Group.

Christiansen was born in Filskov, South Jutland, Denmark, the 10th son of an impoverished family in Jutland. He trained as a carpenter and started making wooden toys in 1932 to make a living after having lost his job during the Great Depression. Soon after, his wife Kirstine died, leaving him to raise his four sons; he never remarried.

Christiansen was inspired to construct a small wooden duck toy for his children. He soon learned his sons loved the new toy and decided to put the ducks into production, using the leftover wood from his old business.[citation needed]

In 1942, a fire broke out at the factory, forcing them to rebuild. Initially, he made miniature versions of the houses and furniture as he worked on as a carpenter, but in 1947 moved to using plastics, which were originally small plastic bears and rattles. By 1949, Ole had produced over 200 plastic and wooden toys.[citation needed]

Ole wanted a name for the group. In 1934, Ole launched a competition to name the company. The prize was a bottle of his own homemade wine. He won it himself.[not in citation given] Lego is a shortened form of the Danish words Leg godt, meaning "play well", and the company grew to become The Lego Group.[1]

On 11 March 1958, Christiansen died from a heart attack at the age of 66, and his third son Godtfred promptly took over the company.
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Ole Kirk Christiansen, né le 7 avril 1891 à Billund, au Danemark, et mort le 11 mars 1958 à Billund, était le fils d'une famille d'agriculteurs pauvres du Jutland dans l'ouest du Danemark. Né à Fliskov, il a été formé en tant que menuisier et a commencé à fabriquer des jouets en bois en 1932 pour gagner sa vie, après avoir perdu son emploi. Ensuite, il a fait des versions miniatures de maisons et de meubles, et a travaillé en tant que charpentier, avant de s'engager en 1947 dans l'utilisation des matières plastiques, en découvrant sur un marché une machine à mouler du plastique. En 1949, il avait produit plus de 200 jouets en plastique et en bois, qui sont devenus les Lego. Son entreprise, The Lego Group, est devenue l'une des plus importantes du monde au xxie siècle.

The Lego Group

. Il a inventé le nom Lego (du danois leg godt, « joue bien ») et la société s’est développée pour devenir le groupe Lego. Son fils aîné Godtfred Kirk Christiansen a repris l’entreprise après sa mort, et l’a rachetée à ses trois frères en 1960. Le petit-fils d’Ole Kirk Christiansen, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, est l’actuel vice-président du conseil de Lego. Il a été PDG jusqu’en 2004, où Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, ancien consultant chez McKinsey, est devenu le nouveau président.

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