About Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen (1805-75) Danish writer, was known as the "children’s poet", born in Odense, Denmark. Andersen was brought up in poverty, with little instruction and few associates, but his narrative gifts were stimulated by the fables of the French author Jean de La Fontaine and the collection of Oriental fairy tales know as the Arabian Nights. The visit of a theatrical company to Odense, in 1818, led him to seek his dramatic fortune in Copenhagen (1819). Andersen’s first important work was a journey on Foot from Holm Canal to the East Point of Amager (1829); Fantasies and Sketches followed in 1831. In 1835 Hans Christian Andersen began the Fairy Tales (first series, 1835; second series, 1838-42; third series, 1845; last series, 1871-72). Though at first little esteemed by the general public and by Hans Christian Andersen himself, these pieces are now generally considered his most valuable works. They included some of the most popular of all stories for children, and are often favorably compared with the true folk tales contained in such collections as those of the German mythologist Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. |
