Hans Christian Andersen(1805-75) was born in Odense, Denmark, the
son of a poor shoemaker, who nonetheless was a great reader, made a
toy-theatre for his son and taught him to notice every natural
wonder as they walked in the woods together on Sundays. His father
died when he was eleven, and it wasn't until six years later that,
with the help of a patron, he finally went to a state secondary
school attended by much youger children. There he suffered at the
hands of a cruel headmaster, but he aquired an education and was
determined to be a writer. He published his first novel and his
first fairy tales in 1835; thereafter he wrote over 150 more of
these stories which have become classics in many languages.
A lonely man who never married, he was also an anxious man; he
loved travelling, but would carry a coil of rope with him in case
of fire in his hotel. Although he originally addressed his fairy
tales to children (and some would maintain he had a streak of
childhood in his nature) he insisted they were 'for all ages', and
the gentleness and humor that are their characteristics are
recognized by everyone.
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