HANS CHRIS

TIAN

ANDERSEN

WHO WAS HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN?

He was a Danish fairy tale stories writer and poet.

He had a history of being dyslexic.

His poems and fairy tales have been translated into more than 150 languages.

WHERE WAS HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN FROM?

He was born in Odense, Denmark,

April 2. 1805.

FAME

Andersen achieved worldwide fame for writing innovative and influential fairy tales.

Many of his stories, including "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Princess and the Pea," remain classics of the genre.

HIS EARLY LIFE

At 14, he moved to Copenhagen to seek employment as an actor. Having an excellent soprano voice, he was accepted into the Royal Danish Theatre.

Jonas Collin sent him to a grammar school in Slagelse, covering all his expenses.

He later said his years in school were the darkest and most bitter of his life. At one school, he lived at his schoolmaster's home. There he was treated badly in order "to improve his character," he was told.

A very early fairy tale by Andersen called The Tallow Candle was discovered in a Danish archive in October 2012. The story, written in the 1820s. It was written while he was still in school and dedicated to a benefactor.

PERSONAL LIFE

His father was dead when he was 11. His mother was dead he was 28.

He met Franz Liszt who was a famous Hungarian

composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher in 1841.

In June 1847, Andersen paid his first visit to England and he met Charles Dickens, who was an English writer and social critic, for the first time.

He never got married in his life. But Courts Louise Collin was his true love.

PUBLICATIONS

First story, The Ghost at Palnatoke's Grave, in 1822.

First poem, ‘The Dying Child’ in Copenhagen Post in1827.

First two instalments of his immortal Fairy Tales during 1835.

First book, A Walking Tour from Holmen’s Canal to the Eastern Point of Amager in the Years 1828 and 1829.

First play, Love at St Nicholas’ Tower in 1829.

Fist novel, The Improvisatore in 1935.

LEGACYApril 2, Andersen's birthday, is celebrated as

International Children's Book Day.

The year 2005, designated "Andersen Year" in Denmark.

A $13-million theme park based on Andersen's tales and life opened in Shanghai at the end of 2006.

In the United States, statues of Andersen may be found in New York City's Central Park, Chicago's Lincoln Park, and in Solvang, California, a city founded by Danes.

STATUES

DEATH

He died in Copenhagen on August 4, 1875.