Image of Hans Christian Andersen

Timeline

Lifetime: 1805 - 1875 Passed: ≈ 148 years ago

Title

Writer

Country/Nationality

Denmark
Wikipedia

Hans Christian Andersen

Andersen's fairy tales, consisting of 156 stories across nine volumes and translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well. His most famous fairy tales include "The Emperor's New Clothes," "The Little Mermaid," "The Nightingale," "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", "The Red Shoes", "The Princess and the Pea," "The Snow Queen," "The Ugly Duckling," "The Little Match Girl," and "Thumbelina." His stories have inspired ballets, plays, and animated and live-action films. One of Copenhagen's widest and busiest boulevards, skirting Copenhagen City Hall Square at the corner of which Andersen's larger-than-life bronze statue sits, is named "H. C. Andersens Boulevard."

A very early fairy tale by Andersen, "The Tallow Candle" (Danish: Tællelyset), was discovered in a Danish archive in October 2012. The story, written in the 1820s, is about a candle that did not feel appreciated. It was written while Andersen was still in school and dedicated to one of his benefactors. The story remained in that family's possession until it turned up among other family papers in a local archive.

In 1829, Andersen enjoyed considerable success with the short story "A Journey on Foot from Holmen's Canal to the East Point of Amager." Its protagonist meets characters ranging from Saint Peter to a talking cat. Andersen followed this success with a theatrical piece, Love on St. Nicholas Church Tower, and a short volume of poems. He made little progress in writing and publishing immediately following the issue of these poems but he did receive a small travel grant from the king in 1833. This enabled him to set out on the first of many journeys throughout Europe. At Jura, near Le Locle, Switzerland, Andersen wrote the story "Agnete and the Merman". The same year he spent an evening in the Italian seaside village of Sestri Levante, the place which inspired the title of "The Bay of Fables". He arrived in Rome in October 1834. Andersen's travels in Italy were reflected in his first novel, a fictionalized autobiography titled The Improvisatore (Improvisatoren), published in 1835 to instant acclaim.

Andersen fell out of his bed and was severely hurt; he never fully recovered from the resultant injuries. Soon afterward, he started to show signs of liver cancer.

He died on 4 August 1875, in a house called Rolighed (literally: calmness), near Copenhagen, the home of his close friends, the banker Moritz Melchior and his wife. Shortly before his death, Andersen had consulted a composer about the music for his funeral, saying: "Most of the people who will walk after me will be children, so make the beat keep time with little steps."

His body was interred in the Assistens Kirkegård in the Nørrebro area of Copenhagen, in the family plot of the Collins. However, in 1914 the stone was moved to another cemetery (today known as "Frederiksbergs ældre kirkegaard"), where younger Collin family members were buried. For a period, his, Edvard Collin's and Henriette Collin's graves were unmarked. A second stone has been erected, marking H.C. Andersen's grave, now without any mention of the Collin couple, but all three still share the same plot.

At the time of his death, Andersen was internationally revered, and the Danish Government paid him an annual stipend as a "national treasure".

Books by Hans Christian Andersen

Andersen's Fairy Tales Cover image

Andersen's Fairy Tales

Fairy Tale
Children's Literature Folktales Imaginative

The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, The Snow Queen, The Real Princess and a host of other wonderful tales which form so much a part of childhood are part of Andersen's Fairy Tales, by Hans Christian Andersen. This volume contains eighteen selecte...

The Little Mermaid Cover image

The Little Mermaid

Fiction Fairy Tale
Love Children's Literature Myths True Love Betrayal Legends Afterlife

"The Little Mermaid" is a Danish literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a human soul. The tale was...

The Little Match Girl Cover image

The Little Match Girl

Fiction Fairy Tale
Control Struggle Hope

"The Little Match Girl" is a literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. The story, about a dying child's dreams and hope, was first published in 1845. It has been adapted to various media, including animated, live-action,...

The Emperor's New Clothes Cover image

The Emperor's New Clothes

Fiction Fairy Tale
Folktales Myths Legends Illusions

"The Emperor's New Clothes" is a literary folktale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, about a vain emperor who gets exposed before his subjects. The tale has been translated into over 100 languages.

The Ice-Maiden: and Other Tales Cover image

The Ice-Maiden: and Other Tales

Fiction Fairy Tale
Short Story Myths Legends

"The Ice-Maiden" is an 1861 literary fairy tale by the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen. The first English translation was published by King and Baird in 1863. The story, set in Switzerland, was inspired by a local legend about the Île de Peilz,...

The Snow Queen and Other Stories  Cover image

The Snow Queen and Other Stories

Fiction Fairy Tale
Play Children Children's Literature Folktales Virtue Culture Myths Classics Legends

The story began with a young girl that grew up with a step mom and two sisters. The mother did not like Martha and everyday make her work harder then ever, she only cared about her two daughters, Pasha and Masha. One day the mother said that her dau...

Märchen Cover image

Märchen

Fairy Tale
Literature Myths Legends Historical

Based on Danish, German and Greek legends and historical events, linked to popular belief and inspired by the literary currents of his time, Andersen created the most important fairy tales of the Biedermeier period. Andersen's fairy tales are not onl...

Fairy Tales Collection of Hans Christian Andersen  Cover image

Fairy Tales Collection of Hans Christian Andersen

Fiction Fairy Tale
Children Children's Literature Myths Legends

A collection of something for everyone - the very popular stories, the less well-known stories and favorites, that both children and grownups can enjoy.

Hans Christian Andersen: Fairytales and Short Stories Volume 6, 1866 to 1875 Cover image

Hans Christian Andersen: Fairytales and Short Stories Volume 6, 1866 to 1875

Fairy Tale
Beauty Debate Redemption Children Short Stories Myths Forgiveness Legends Empathy

Delve into the enchanting world of Hans Christian Andersen, where imagination reigns supreme and timeless tales unfold. Volume 6 of Hans Christian Andersen's Fairytales and Short Stories is a treasure trove of whimsical stories that will captivate r...