Nanna Ditzel

Nanna Ditzel was a Danish jewelry, textile and furniture designer. She is also known as the  First lady of Danish furniture design.

Ditzel initially trained as a carpenter at the Richards School. She studied at the School of Arts and Crafts and the Royal Danish Art Academy in Copenhagen until 1946. In 1946, Nanna Ditzel and her husband Jorgen Ditzel opened a design studio in Copenhagen, which specializes mainly in interior design. Especially, they designed furniture for small apartments as well as children's furniture.In 1959 the two designed the Hanging Chair, an egg-shaped hanging basket chair, also known as Egg Chair. This is probably the most famous work of the couple. After the death of her husband Jorgen Ditzel (1961), Nanna Ditzel continues to work in the design field. It begins to increase the work with materials such as fiberglass, rubber, foam and basket too. Beside furniture, she designed , jewelry, textiles, cutlery and she practices in fine arts. Among other things, she designs silver jewelery for the Copenhagen silversmith Georg Jensen.

Her creations are recognized worldwide and are exhibited on fairs and in Galleries in Amsterdam, London, New York, Madrid, Berlin, Glasgow, Vienna, Reykjavík, Manchester, Stockholm, Paris and Milan.In 1968 she moves back to London and marries Kurt Heide. Together, they are opening an exhibition space called Interspace, a meeting place for international design. Her own studio Nanna Ditzel Productions Ltd. also moves to London. In 1986, her second husband dies and Ditzel returns to Denmark.
In 1998 she receives a lifelong grant for artits from the Danish Ministry of Culture.In 1996, she was awarded with the title Honorable Royal Designer by the London Royal Society of Arts.Until shortly before her death in 2005 Ditzel continues her work as a designer.