Hans Christian Andersen is a great, lonely and strange storyteller. Hans Christian Andersen: brief biography, interesting facts about the storyteller's life, works and famous fairy tales Hans andersen

Hans Christian Andersen is an outstanding Danish writer and poet, as well as the author of world-famous fairy tales for children and adults.

He wrote such brilliant works as The Ugly Duckling, The King's New Dress, Thumbelina, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Princess and the Pea, Ole Lukoye, The Snow Queen and many others.

Many animated and feature films have been shot based on Andersen's works.

So in front of you short biography of Hans Andersen.

Biography of Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen was born on April 2, 1805 in the Danish city of Odense. Hans was named after his father, who was a shoemaker.

His mother, Anna Marie Andersdatter, was a poorly educated girl who worked all her life as a laundress. The family lived very poorly and barely made ends meet.

An interesting fact is that Andersen's father sincerely believed that he belonged to a noble family, since his mother told him about this. In fact, everything was quite the opposite.

To date, biographers have established for sure that the Andersen family came from the lower class.

However, this social position did not prevent Hans Andersen from becoming a great writer. Love for the boy was instilled in his father, who often read him fairy tales from different authors.

In addition, he periodically went to the theater with his son, accustoming him to high art.

Childhood and youth

When the young man was 11 years old, trouble happened in his biography: his father died. Andersen took his loss very hard, and for a long time was in a depressed state.

Studying at school also became a real test for him. He, as well as other students, was often beaten with rods by teachers for the slightest violations. For this reason, he became a very nervous and vulnerable child.

Hans soon persuaded his mother to drop out of school. After that, he began attending a charity school attended by children from poor families.

Having received basic knowledge, the young man got a job as an apprentice at a weaver. After that, Hans Andersen sewed clothes, and later worked in a tobacco factory.

An interesting fact is that while working at the factory, he had practically no friends. His colleagues mocked him in every possible way, releasing sarcastic jokes in his direction.

Once, Andersen's pants were lowered in front of everyone in order to allegedly find out what gender he was. And all because he had a high and sonorous voice, similar to a woman's.

After this incident, hard days came in Andersen's biography: he finally withdrew into himself and stopped communicating with anyone. At that point in time, Hans' only friends were wooden dolls, which his father had made for him a long time ago.

At the age of 14, the young man went to Copenhagen, because he dreamed of fame and recognition. It is worth noting that he did not have an attractive appearance.

Hans Andersen was a thin teenager with long limbs and an equally long nose. However, despite this, he was accepted into the Royal Theater, in which he played supporting roles. It is interesting that during this period he began to write his first works.

When the financier Jonas Collin saw his play on stage, he fell in love with Andersen.

As a result, Collin convinced King Frederick VI to pay for the education of a promising actor and writer from the state treasury. After that, Hans was able to study at the elite schools of Slagels and Elsinore.

It is curious that Andersen's fellow students were students who were 6 years younger than him in age. The most difficult subject for the future writer was grammar.

Andersen made a lot of spelling mistakes, for which he constantly heard reproaches from teachers.

Andersen's creative biography

Hans Christian Andersen is best known as a children's writer. More than 150 fairy tales came out from his pen, many of which have become classics of world significance. In addition to fairy tales, Andersen wrote poetry, plays, short stories and even novels.

He didn't like being called a children's writer. Andersen has repeatedly stated that he writes not only for kids, but also for adults. He even ordered that there should not be a single child on his monument, although initially he was supposed to be surrounded by children.

Monument to Hans Christian Andersen in Copenhagen

It is worth noting that serious works, like novels and plays, were quite difficult for Andersen, but fairy tales were written surprisingly easily and simply. At the same time, he was inspired by any objects that were around him.

Andersen's works

Over the years of his biography, Andersen wrote many fairy tales in which one can trace. Among such fairy tales, one can single out "Flint", "Swineherd", "Wild Swans" and others.

In 1837 (when he was assassinated), Andersen published the collection Tales Told to Children. The collection immediately gained great popularity in society.

It is interesting that, despite the simplicity of Andersen's fairy tales, each of them has a deep meaning with philosophical overtones. After reading them, the child can independently understand morality and draw the right conclusions.

Andersen soon wrote the fairy tales "Thumbelina", "The Little Mermaid" and "The Ugly Duckling", which are still loved by children all over the world.

Later, Hans wrote the novels "Two Baronesses" and "To Be or Not to Be", designed for an adult audience. However, these works went unnoticed, since Andersen was perceived primarily as a children's writer.

Andersen's most popular fairy tales are The King's New Dress, The Ugly Duckling, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Thumbelina, The Princess and the Pea, Ole Lukoye, and The Snow Queen.

Personal life

Some biographers of Andersen suggest that the great storyteller was not indifferent to the male sex. Such conclusions are drawn on the basis of the surviving romantic letters that he wrote to men.

It is worth noting that officially he was never married and had no children. In his diaries, he later admitted that he had decided to abandon intimate relationships with women, because they did not reciprocate.

Hans Christian Andersen reading a book to children

In the biography of Hans Andersen, there were at least 3 girls for whom he felt sympathy. Even at a young age, he fell in love with Riborg Voigt, but never dared to confess his feelings to her.

The next beloved of the writer was Louise Collin. She turned down Andersen's proposal and married a wealthy lawyer.

In 1846, there was another passion in Andersen's biography: he fell in love with the opera singer Jenny Lind, who charmed him with her voice.

After her speeches, Hans gave her flowers and recited poetry, trying to achieve reciprocity. However, this time he failed to win a woman's heart.

Soon the singer married a British composer, as a result of which the unfortunate Andersen fell into depression. An interesting fact is that later Jenny Lind will become the prototype of the famous Snow Queen.

Death

At the age of 67, Andersen fell out of bed and received many serious bruises. Over the next 3 years, he suffered from his injuries, but was never able to recover from them.

Hans Christian Andersen died on August 4, 1875 at the age of 70. The great storyteller was buried at the Assistance Cemetery in Copenhagen.

Andersen's photo

At the end you can see the most famous Andersen. I must say that Hans Christian was not distinguished by an attractive appearance. However, under his clumsy and even ridiculous appearance was an incredibly refined, deep, wise and loving person.

Name: Hans Christian Andersen

Age: 70 years old

Place of Birth: Odense, Denmark

A place of death: Copenhagen, Denmark

Activity: writer, poet, storyteller

Family status: not married

Hans Christian Andersen - Biography

Who is unfamiliar with Andersen? Perhaps there is no such person. If they don’t know his last name, then they certainly know all of his fairy-tale heroes. His works are still being republished, films are made based on them and cartoons are drawn. They are included in the compulsory school curriculum. And not to get acquainted with the biography of this amazing person is just a crime.

Childhood, family

Hans Christian Andersen was born into the family of a shoemaker and laundress. The town in Denmark where the family lived was small. The father always read fairy tales to the boy. And the theater was the child's favorite pastime. Puppets for the home theater were made by ourselves. They were made of wood and sewn patchwork clothes for them. Hans was happy to compose various stories, and he had a rich imagination. Only now he did not know how to write down at that time, only at the age of ten he was able to comprehend the basics of science. But the biography of the baby's education began usually, like everyone else.

Hans was taken to the "learned" glover, but she once used a rod on the boy as a punishment. Andersen, defiantly taking his primer, proudly left the house of his so-called teacher. When the boy was 11 years old, there was no dreamer and intercessor. The head of the family died, and the only man left, Hans, had to earn his own. They could only take him as an apprentice. At first he worked at a cloth factory, then he got a job at a tobacco factory.

Predictions

One day, the mother turned to a fortuneteller to find out about the fate of her son. Great was her surprise when she heard that Hans was going to be famous. And then miracles began, with which the biography of the writer abounds. Once a real puppet theater came to the city on tour, which needed an artist. Hans managed to get this free seat. Puppeteers gave performances for rich people.

The boy dreamed of becoming an actor in the royal theater, for this rich people were needed - one colonel gave Hans good recommendations. At the age of 14, the future great storyteller, with the blessing of his mother, left for Copenhagen. He went to become famous.

Andersen's independent life

Everything went well, the boy had a well-trained voice, and he was assigned small roles. Hans grew up and was fired from the theater as an unpromising actor. But we must pay tribute to his imagination, which the poet Ingeman managed to notice. The ruling at that time Frederick VI wrote a petition asking him to provide Andersen with a free education.

I had to endure the ridicule of classmates who were six years younger. The teachers could not explain the rules of grammar to the student, so until the end of his life this science remained incomprehensible.

Writer's career, books

As a writer, Hans Christian Andersen began to take shape at the age of 25, when his first fantasy story was published. Hans gets the opportunity to see Europe while traveling on the money from the royal prize. Andersen had already firmly decided that he would write fairy tales. And when his stories began to diverge in large numbers, the journalists asked who tells the author stories. The storyteller was quite surprised by this question. Why is what he writes about not seen by his readers?

Tales of Andersen

How can you now do without the "Snow Queen", "Thumbelina" and "The Little Mermaid"? Thanks to Andersen, everyone can test the crowned lady and find out if she is a real princess. You can learn courage from the Steadfast Tin Soldier, and from the Ugly Duckling loyalty and simplicity. In Denmark, there are monuments not only to the storyteller, but also to his heroes: the incomparable Little Mermaid, Ole Lukoya with his invariable multi-colored umbrella of dreams.

This passion for fairy tales helped their author to look optimistically at his fate. Even before his death, Andersen did not part with the undying genre of fairy tales. While cleaning the room after the death of Hans Christian, they found an almost completed magical story, another fairy tale in handwritten form, lying under his pillow.

Hans Christian Andersen - biography of personal life

The great storyteller, inventor and dreamer was not married, he had no children. The storyteller had men and women as friends. The great Andersen had no sexual relations with either women or men. The first potential lover was the sister of a comrade, to whom he did not dare to confess his feelings. With the second chosen one, Hans was passionate and in love, but all his efforts were rejected in favor of a successful lawyer.

The third beloved woman was an opera singer, who favorably accepted the courtship of the young man. Jenny accepted gifts from Andersen and married British composer Otto Goldschmidt. In the future, it was she who served as the prototype for the Snow Queen, a woman with a cold heart.

In Paris, he was a frequent visitor to the red-light districts, but for the most part the storyteller talked with young ladies about his life. The biography of the writer, who had liver cancer, was coming to its logical conclusion. And before his death, he fell out of bed, hurt himself very badly, lived for another three years, never recovering from his injuries during the fall.

Bibliography, books, fairy tales

– Travel on foot from the Holmen Canal to the eastern cape of the island of Amager
- Love on the Nikolaev Tower
- Agnetha and Vodyanoy
– Improviser
- Only violinist
– Fairy tales told for children
- The Steadfast Tin Soldier
– Picture book without pictures
– Nightingale
- Ugly duck
- The Snow Queen
- Girl with matches
- Shadow
- Two baronesses
- To be or not to be

A brief biography of Andersen would be incomplete without a description of his early years. The boy was born on April 2 (April 15), 1805. He lived in a fairly poor family. His father worked as a shoemaker, and his mother worked as a laundress.

Young Hans was quite a vulnerable child. In educational institutions of that time, physical punishment was often used, so the fear of studying did not leave Andersen. Because of this, his mother sent him to a charity school where the teachers were more loyal. The head of this educational institution was Fedder Carstens.

Already in his teens, Hans moved to Copenhagen. The young man did not hide from his parents that he was going to a big city for fame. Some time later, he ended up at the Royal Theatre. There he played supporting roles. Surrounding, paying tribute to the zeal of the guy, allowed him to study at school for free. Subsequently, Andersen recalled this time as one of the most terrible in his biography. The reason for this was the strict rector of the school. Hans completed his studies only in 1827.

The beginning of the literary path

A huge influence on the biography of Hans Christian Andersen had his work. In 1829 his first work was published. This is an incredible story called "Hiking from the Holmen Canal to the Eastern End of Amager". This story was a success and brought Hans considerable popularity.

Until the mid-1830s, Andersen practically did not write. It was during these years that he received an allowance that allowed him to travel for the first time. At this time, the writer seemed to have a second wind. In 1835, "Tales" appear, which bring the author's fame to a new level. In the future, it is works for children that become Andersen's hallmark.

The heyday of creativity

In the 1840s, Hans Christian was completely absorbed in writing the Picture Book without Pictures. This work only confirms the talent of the writer. At the same time, "Tales" are gaining more and more popularity. He returns to them again and again. He began work on the second volume in 1838. He started the third in 1845. During this period of his life, Andersen had already become a popular author.

Towards the end of the 1840s and beyond, he sought self-development and tried himself as a novelist. The summary of his works arouses curiosity among readers. However, for the general public, Hans Christian Andersen will forever remain a storyteller. To this day, his works inspire a considerable number of people. And some works are studied in the 5th grade. In our time, one cannot fail to note the accessibility of Andersen's creations. Now his work can be simply downloaded.

Last years

In 1871 the writer attended the premiere of a ballet based on his works. Despite the failure, Andersen contributed to the fact that his friend, choreographer Augustin Bournonville, was awarded the prize. He wrote his last story on Christmas Day 1872.

In the same year, the writer fell out of bed at night and was injured. This injury became decisive in his fate. Hans held out for another 3 years, but could not recover from this incident. August 4 (August 17), 1875 - was the last day of the life of the famous storyteller. Andersen was buried in Copenhagen.

Other biography options

• The writer did not like being referred to as children's authors. He assured that his stories are dedicated to both young and adult readers. Hans Christian even abandoned the original layout of his monument, where children were present.
• Even in his later years, the author made many spelling mistakes.
• The writer had a personal autograph

There are few people in the world who do not know the name of the great writer Hans Christian Andersen. More than one generation has grown up on the works of this master of the pen, whose works have been translated into 150 languages ​​of the world. In almost every home, parents read bedtime stories to their children about the Princess and the Pea, Spruce, and little Thumbelina, whom a field mouse tried to marry off to a greedy mole neighbor. Or children watch films and cartoons about the Little Mermaid or about the girl Gerda, who dreamed of rescuing Kai from the cold hands of the callous Snow Queen.

The world described by Andersen is amazing and beautiful. But along with the magic and the flight of fantasy, there is a philosophical thought in his fairy tales, because the writer devoted his work to both children and adults. Many critics agree that under the shell of Andersen's naivete and simple style of narration lies a deep meaning, the task of which is to give the reader the necessary food for thought.

Childhood and youth

Hans Christian Andersen (generally accepted Russian spelling, Hans Christian would be more correct) was born on April 2, 1805 in the third largest city in Denmark, Odense. Some biographers assured that Andersen was the illegitimate son of the Danish king Christian VIII, but in fact the future writer grew up and was brought up in a poor family. His father, also named Hans, worked as a shoemaker and barely made ends meet, and his mother Anna Marie Andersdatter worked as a laundress and was an illiterate woman.

The head of the family believed that his ancestry began from a noble dynasty: the paternal grandmother told her grandson that their family belonged to a privileged social class, but these speculations were not confirmed and were challenged over time. There are many rumors about Andersen's relatives, which to this day excite the minds of readers. For example, they say that the grandfather of the writer - a carver by profession - was considered crazy in the town, because he made incomprehensible figures of people with wings, similar to angels, out of wood.

Hans Sr. introduced the child to literature. He read to his offspring "1001 nights" - traditional Arabic tales. Therefore, every evening, little Hans plunged into the magical stories of Scheherazade. Also, the father and son loved to take walks in the park in Odense and even visited the theater, which made an indelible impression on the boy. In 1816 the writer's father died.

The real world was a severe test for Hans, he grew up as an emotional, nervous and sensitive child. Andersen’s state of mind is to blame for the local bully, who simply distributes cuffs, and teachers, because in those troubled times, punishment with rods was commonplace, so the future writer considered school an unbearable torture.

When Andersen flatly refused to attend classes, the parents assigned the young man to a charity school for poor children. After receiving his primary education, Hans became an apprentice weaver, then retrained as a tailor, and later worked in a cigarette factory.

Andersen's relations with colleagues in the workshop, to put it mildly, did not work out. He was constantly embarrassed by vulgar anecdotes and narrow-minded jokes of workers, and one day, under the general laughter, Hans pulled down his pants to make sure he was a boy or a girl. And all because in childhood the writer had a thin voice and often sang during the shift. This event forced the future writer to completely withdraw into himself. The only friends of the young man were wooden dolls, once made by his father.

When Hans was 14 years old, in search of a better life, he moved to Copenhagen, which at that time was considered the "Scandinavian Paris". Anna Marie thought that Andersen would leave for the capital of Denmark for a short time, so she let her beloved son go with a light heart. Hans left his father's house because he dreamed of becoming famous, he wanted to learn acting and play on the stage of the theater in classical productions. It is worth saying that Hans was a lanky young man with a long nose and limbs, for which he received the offensive nicknames "stork" and "lamppost".

Andersen was also teased in childhood as a "playwriter", because the boy's house had a toy theater with rag "actors". A diligent young man with a funny appearance gave the impression of an ugly duckling, who was accepted into the Royal Theater out of pity, and not because he was an excellent soprano. On the stage of the theater, Hans played minor roles. But soon his voice began to break, so classmates, who considered Andersen primarily a poet, advised the young man to concentrate on literature.

Jonas Collin, a Danish statesman who was in charge of finance during the reign of Frederick VI, was very fond of a young man unlike everyone else and convinced the king to pay for the education of a young writer.

Andersen studied at the prestigious Slagels and Elsinore schools (where he sat at the same desk with students 6 years younger than himself) at the expense of the treasury, although he was not a diligent student: Hans never mastered the letter and made multiple spelling and punctuation errors all his life in a letter. Later, the storyteller recalled that he had nightmares about his student years, because the rector constantly criticized the young man to the nines, and, as you know, Andersen did not like this.

Literature

During his lifetime, Hans Christian Andersen wrote poetry, short stories, novels and ballads. But for all readers, his name is primarily associated with fairy tales - there are 156 works in the track record of the master of the pen. However, Hans disliked being called a children's writer and claimed to write for boys and girls as well as adults. It got to the point that Andersen ordered that there should not be a single child on his monument, although initially the monument was supposed to be surrounded by children.

Illustration for Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Ugly Duckling"

Hans gained recognition and fame in 1829, when he published the adventure story "Hiking from the Holmen canal to the eastern tip of Amager". Since then, the young writer did not leave his pen and inkwell and wrote literary works one after another, including fairy tales that glorified him, into which he introduced a system of high genres. True, novels, short stories and vaudevilles were given to the author hard - at the moments of writing, he seemed to suffer a creative crisis in spite.

Illustration for Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "Wild Swans"

Andersen drew inspiration from everyday life. In his opinion, everything in this world is beautiful: a flower petal, a small bug, and a spool of thread. Indeed, if we recall the works of the creator, then even every galosh or pea from a pod has an amazing biography. Hans relied both on his own fantasy and on the motifs of the folk epic, thanks to which he wrote The Flint, The Wild Swans, The Swineherd and other stories published in the collection Tales Told to Children (1837).

Illustration for the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen "The Little Mermaid"

Andersen loved to make protagonists of characters who are looking for a place in society. This includes Thumbelina, the Little Mermaid, and the Ugly Duckling. Such characters make the author sympathetic. All Andersen's stories from cover to cover are saturated with philosophical meaning. It is worth recalling the fairy tale "The King's New Dress", where the emperor asks two rogues to sew him an expensive robe. However, the outfit turned out to be difficult and consisted entirely of "invisible threads". The crooks assured the customer that only fools would not see the extremely thin fabric. Thus, the king flaunts around the palace in an indecent form.

Illustration for the fairy tale "Thumbelina" by Hans Christian Andersen

He and his courtiers do not notice the intricate dress, but are afraid to make themselves look like fools if they admit that the ruler is walking around in what his mother gave birth to. This tale began to be interpreted as a parable, and the phrase "And the king is naked!" included in the list of winged expressions. It is noteworthy that not all Andersen's fairy tales are saturated with luck, not all of the writer's manuscripts contain the “deusexmachina” technique, when a random coincidence that saves the protagonist (for example, the prince kisses the poisoned Snow White) seems to appear from nowhere by God's will.

Illustration for the fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea" by Hans Christian Andersen

Hans is loved by adult readers for not drawing a utopian world where everyone lives happily ever after, but, for example, without a twinge of conscience sends a steadfast tin soldier into a burning fireplace, dooming a lonely little man to death. In 1840, the master of the pen tried his hand at the genre of short stories and miniatures and published the collection "A Book with Pictures without Pictures", in 1849 he wrote the novel "Two Baronesses". Four years later, the book To Be or Not to Be was published, but all Andersen's attempts to establish himself as a novelist were in vain.

Personal life

The personal life of the failed actor, but the eminent writer Andersen is a mystery shrouded in darkness. Rumor has it that throughout the existence of the great writer remained in the dark about intimacy with women or men. There is an assumption that the great storyteller was a latent homosexual (as evidenced by the epistolary heritage), he had close friendly relations with friends Edward Collin, the crown duke of Weimar and with the dancer Harald Schraff. Although there were three women in the life of Hans, the matter did not go beyond fleeting sympathy, not to mention marriage.

The first chosen one of Andersen was the sister of a school friend Riborg Voigt. But the indecisive young man did not dare to talk to the object of his desire. Louise Collin - the writer's next potential bride - stopped any attempts at courtship and ignored the fiery stream of love letters. The 18-year-old girl preferred Andersen to a wealthy lawyer.

In 1846, Hans fell in love with the opera singer Jenny Lind, who was nicknamed "The Swedish Nightingale" because of her sonorous soprano voice. Andersen guarded Jenny backstage and presented the beauty with poems and generous gifts. But the charming girl was in no hurry to reciprocate the storyteller's sympathy, but treated him like a brother. When Andersen learned that the singer had married the British composer Otto Goldschmidt, Hans plunged into depression. Cold-hearted Jenny Lind became the prototype of the Snow Queen from the writer's fairy tale of the same name.

Illustration for Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Snow Queen"

Andersen was unlucky in love. Therefore, it is not surprising that the storyteller, upon arrival in Paris, visited the red light districts. True, instead of debauchery all night long with frivolous young ladies, Hans talked with them, sharing the details of his unhappy life. When an acquaintance of Andersen hinted to him that he was visiting brothels for other purposes, the writer was surprised and looked at his interlocutor with obvious disgust.

It is also known that Andersen was a devoted admirer, talented writers met at a literary meeting held by the Countess of Blessington in her salon. After this meeting, Hans wrote in his diary:

"We went out on the veranda, I was happy to talk to the living writer of England, whom I love most."

After 10 years, the storyteller again arrived in England and came as an uninvited guest to Dickens' house to the detriment of his family. As time passed, Charles ceased correspondence with Andersen, and the Dane sincerely did not understand why all his letters remained unanswered.

Death

In the spring of 1872, Andersen fell out of bed, hitting the floor hard, because of which he received multiple injuries from which he never managed to recover.

Later, the writer was diagnosed with liver cancer. On August 4, 1875 Hans died. The great writer is buried in the Assistance Cemetery in Copenhagen.

Bibliography

• 1829 - "Traveling on foot from the Holmen Canal to the eastern cape of the island of Amager"
• 1829 - "Love on the Nikolaev Tower"
• 1834 - "Agneta and Vodyanoy"
• 1835 - "Improviser" (Russian translation - in 1844)
• 1837 - "Only a violinist"
• 1835-1837 - "Tales told for children"
• 1838 - "The Steadfast Tin Soldier"
• 1840 - "A picture book without pictures"
• 1843 - The Nightingale
• 1843 - "The Ugly Duckling"
• 1844 - "The Snow Queen"
• 1845 - "Girl with matches"
• 1847 - "Shadow"
• 1849 - "Two Baronesses"
• 1857 - "To be or not to be"