Christian X

Christian X (1870-1947), King of Denmark (1912-1947) and Iceland (1918-1944), son and successor of Frederick VIII, born near Copenhagen. Notable events of his reign were his approval in 1915 of a new constitution that gave women the right to vote and in other ways broadened suffrage; the sale of the Danish West Indies to the United States in 1917; the granting of sovereign rights to Iceland in 1918; the entrance of Denmark into the League of Nations in 1920; and the return of North Schleswig from Germany to Denmark in 1920 after a plebiscite. Under his rule vast areas of wasteland were reclaimed to agriculture, a Danish merchant marine was developed, and worldwide Danish commercial enterprises were launched. In World War II, during the German occupation of Denmark from 1940 to 1945, Christian was the dignified if powerless symbol of national unity, but the story that he wore a star of David to express solidarity with his Jewish subjects is without foundation. Christian X ceased to be King of Iceland when the Republic of Iceland was established in 1944. He was succeeded as King of Denmark by his son, Frederick IX.