Hans Christian Andersen – famous fairy tale writer

Hans Christian Andersen is a Danish writer and poet, author of the world famous fairy tales for children and adults: The Ugly Duckling, Emperor’s New Clothes, Thumbelina, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Princess and the Pea, The Snow Queen and many others.
Hans Christian Andersen was born on April 2, 1805 in Odense. His father, Hans Andersen (1782-1816), was a poor shoemaker and his mother, Anne Marie Andersdatter (1775-1833), was a washerwoman from a poor family. He was very emotional and sensitive child. The physical punishments were common in schools, so the boy was afraid to go there and mother sent him to the charity school where there was no physical punishment. It is known that the school was led by Christian Fedder Carstens.
At the age of 14 Hans went to Copenhagen. His mother hoped that he would come home soon. When she asked the reason for leaving home he answered: “To become famous!”

Hans Christian joined the Royal Theatre, where he played minor roles. People asked King of Denmark Frederick VI to allow the boy to go to school at the expense of the treasury. Pupils at school were 6 years younger than Andersen and he was subjected to severe criticism of the head teacher. In 1827, Andersen completed his studies. However, until the end of his life he did a lot of grammatical mistakes.
Andersen had never been married and had no children.
In 1829, Andersen published a fantastic story A Journey on Foot from Holmen’s Canal to the East Point of Amager, which brought him fame. He wrote a large number of literary works, including Tales (1835).
In the 1840s, Anderson tried to return to the stage, but without much success. At the same time he confirmed his talent by publishing A Picture Book Without Pictures. The premiere of the first ballet based on his fairy tales was in 1871.
Hans Christian Andersen died on August 4, 1875 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Andersen and little girl

Interesting facts
– Asteroid Andersen 2476 was named in honor of the writer.
– There are several films about Andersen.
– He wrote a tale about Isaac Newton.
– Andersen was angry when he was called children’s storyteller, and said that he wrote fairy tales for both children and adults.
– One of the early tales of the writer, Tallow Candle (Tællelyset), was discovered in the Danish National Archives only in October 2012.
– Andersen was afraid of dogs, robbery, and loss of documents. Fear to die in a fire forced him to carry a rope to climb out through the window in case of fire. Andersen refused to take the world’s biggest box of chocolates because he was afraid of being poisoned.
– A lifelong bachelor, he was frequently in love (with, among others, the singer Jenny Lind).
– He made numerous journeys abroad, where he met prominent Europeans, among them the English novelist Charles Dickens.