Kurt Warnekros

Kurt Warnekros (1882–1949) was a German gynaecologist and pioneer in sexual reassignment surgery.

Kurt Warnekros was born on November 15, 1882 in the family of the professor of medicine Ludwig Warnekros at the University of Berlin. Warnekros himself studied medicine in Würzburg and Berlin from 1902 to 1907. He received his medical license in 1908 and worked at the Women's Hospital of the University of Berlin from 1909. In 1918 Warnekros was appointed professor and in 1924 as head of the hospital. In addition to working as a gynecologist, Warnekros also worked scientifically in the field of X-rays, making x-rays of babies in the womb.

In 1930, following a trip to Paris, Warnekros took Einar Wegener as a patient, arranging a series of operations, transforming Wegener into Lili Elbe. This was following the operation performed at Magnus Hirschfeld's Institute for Sexual Research for the removal of Elbe's testicles. A series of three operations was performed. Lili died after the last operation when her body rejected the transplanted womb.

In the 1933 semi-biographical narrative of Elbe's life, Man Into Woman, Warnekros is depicted through the character Werner Kreutz.

Kurt Warnekros is portrayed by Sebastian Koch in the 2015 film The Danish Girl.