Eva Robinson, of Center Township, with the shield of her native Denmark. She received the shield when she was originally knighted in 2006 at the Royal Danish Embassy in Washington, D.C.
She doesn’t ride a steed around or wear shining armor, but Eva M. Robinson, of Center Township, could very well be the only actual knight in Butler County.
Robinson was elevated March 15 from Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog to Knight 1st Class at the Danish embassy.
Her medal was conferred on her during the ceremony by His Royal Highness Prince Joachim, who is the younger brother of Frederik X, king of Denmark.
Robinson likens being knighted into the Order of the Dannebrog to the monarch knighting citizens of Great Britain. “Dannebrog” is the word for the Danish flag, which is the oldest in the world.
Robinson, who is a native of Denmark, explained she became aware in 2006 that consuls at the existing Danish Honorary Consulate in Pittsburgh were leaving their posts, and consulate officials were looking for new candidates.
“I had no idea there was a Danish consul in Pittsburgh,” she said.
So she applied for the position.
“Even though I’d just been a housewife, they liked what they saw and I spoke Danish,” Robinson said.
Officials traveled to Pittsburgh from the Embassy of Denmark in Washington, D.C., to interview her for the consul position.
“I did the whole interview in Danish,” Robinson said. “They said I spoke like (then-Queen Margrethe II), in old Danish, but that’s all I know.”
Robinson was born in 1950 in Odense, Denmark, the hometown of the author Hans Christian Anderson.
She and her sister lived there with their parents for almost 8 years until her father, a chemical engineer, was recruited by Westinghouse.
Neither Robinson nor her sister spoke English, but were enrolled in classes at a Pittsburgh elementary school
“I don’t remember how I felt,” she said. “I just remember I had to go to school and I learned English in school through total immersion.”
The family, which was soon augmented by three more children, spoke English at home.
When she was 15, Robinson returned to Denmark to live with her grandmother and attend school there, but she became homesick for her parents and siblings and returned to Pittsburgh six months later.
After her parents divorced, her mother married the late Butler family doctor, Nelson Johnson, so the family moved to Butler County.
Robinson graduated from Butler Senior High School in 1968, then worked at her family’s business, the former Eastwood Village Inn, until her retirement.
Robinson was hired as an honorary consul in Pittsburgh, reporting to the official consulate in New York City.
“My job is to aid any Danish national who has trouble in this country,” Robinson said. “I’ve had calls from every state.”
She most recently helped a man regain his Danish citizenship so he can be a dual citizen.
Denmark previously did not allow dual citizenship, and like Robinson, the man had been born in Denmark and acquired U.S. citizenship as a child when his family moved here.
Denmark began allowing dual citizenship on Sept. 1, 2019. Robinson also has that type of citizenship.
In 2016, Robinson was named a knight, and the recent event elevated her to Knight 1st Class, which is the highest achievable level for an honorary consul.
Both designations are in recognition of her dedication to her work as a consul.
Ceremony
At the ceremony last month at the Danish embassy, Robinson was one of three consuls receiving their Knight 1st Class designation, and one person was being knighted for the first time.
She said an ambassador read some information about Robinson and her work at the consulate when it was her turn to receive her Knight 1st Class designation.
“I walked over to the prince, who was standing beside (the ambassador), and he put the pin on me and said ‘congratulations’ in Danish,” Robinson said.
She chatted with Prince Joachim at the luncheon that followed the ceremony. The food for the event was prepared by the Danish chef at the embassy and included smoked salmon and other Danish fare, including a selection of wines.
Robinson asked the prince if he knew her cousin, who was a senior secretary to his mother, the former Queen Margrethe II, who abdicated in January after a 52-year reign.
The prince, who does know Robinson’s cousin, asked if she had much work to do as a consul.
“I said ‘No, Danes are pretty self-sufficient,’” Robinson recalled.
The royal also talked about a June meeting he is planning to attend in Johnstown.
“He wants me to join him there,” Robinson said. “He’s a very nice man and very smart.”
Robinson also has met Queen Margrethe and her late husband, as well as King Frederik X and his wife, through her work as a consul.
“It’s kind of a big deal, and Americans don’t know much about it,” Robinson said. “I have a State Department ID that says if I’m arrested, I have to be treated with respect. I have to carry that card with me all the time.”
She said the Order of the Dannebrog officials are very careful in keeping track of the medals they confer, as they do not wish for them to end up on eBay.
“When I die, the gold medal has to be returned to Denmark so no one can buy it,” Robinson said. “The first one was returned when I got the second one.”
She is very proud of her home country of Denmark.
“It is the country with the highest literacy rate,” Robinson said. “They speak English as a second language better than any other country.”
Denmark also is the birthplace and continued home of Legos, Maersk Shipping and the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk.
She said Denmark, which is made up of 444 islands, is totally sustainable, with every business and home using eco-friendly technology.
Last year, Robinson visited Denmark for a worldwide consul meeting, where she learned all about green energy. Her group visited a brick factory that was dust free for the health of the workers and to negate environmental impacts.
Robinson, who must display a map of Denmark in her home at all times, wouldn’t trade her experiences as an honorary consul for all the Legos in Denmark.
She was thrilled to be elevated to Knight 1st Class, which requires at least 20 years of service as a consul.
“It’s an honor, because it shows they appreciate your work and what you’ve done as a representative of Denmark,” she said.
The invitation to the embassy to receive her Knight 1st Class honors.
Eva Robinson, of Center Township, displays her Knight 1st Class medallion beside pictures of the former Danish Queen, Margrethe II, and her late husband, Prince Henrik.
Eva Robinson, of Center Township, received the Knight 1st Class medallion of the Order of the Dannebrog March 15, at the Royal Danish Embassy in Washington D.C. from HRH Prince Joachim of Denmark.
Eva Robinson, of Center Township, with the shield of her native Denmark. She received the shield when she was originally knighted in 2006 at the Royal Danish Embassy in Washington, D.C.
HRH Prince Joachim of Denmark pins the Knight 1st Class of the Order of the Dannebrog medallion on Eva Robinson, of Center Township, as Danish Ambassador Jesper Sorensen looks on. Robinson was knighted for the second time on March 15 at the Royal Danish Embassy in Washington, D.C.
