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June 30, 2023 | History

Hans Christian Andersen

2 April 1805 - 4 August 1875

Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark, to a father who claimed to be related to nobility. After school, he worked as a weaver's apprentice and as a tailor's assistant. At 14, he moved to Copenhagen to be an actor, and was accepted into the Royal Danish Theatre. His career ended when his voice changed, and he decided to become a writer. He published his first story, The Ghost at Palnatoke's Grave, in 1822. An acquaintance paid all expenses to send him to grammar school in Slagelse. He also attended school at Elsinore until 1827. He later admitted that his school years were the darkest and bitterest of his life.

After school, Andersen resumed writing. In 1829, he started to see his first successes, publishing a short story, "A Journey on Foot from Holmen's Canal to the East Point of Amager", and a collection of poems. In 1833 he received a traveling grant from the King and set out to travel through Europe. He published his first novel, The Improvisatore, in 1835. He also published the first set of Fairy Tales, following up with more stories in 1836 and 1837. Although they were not initially successful, they have become his best-known works. He wrote a well-received poem, Jeg er en Skandinav, which celebrated Scandinavism, in 1839.

In 1857, following a visit to Charles Dickens in England, Andersen met Danish actor Lauritz Eckardt and Danish ballet dancer Harald Scharff in Paris. In 1860, he met them again in Bavaria, and the three of them spent a week in Munich together. Anderson fell in love with Scharff, and started corresponding with him when Scharff and Eckardt left Munich. They were united when Andersen returned to Copenhagen in 1862. Their affair lasted for over a year before it was ended by Scharff, and Andersen did not have another serious relationship.

In 1872, Andersen was injured in a fall, and he died of his injuries in 1875.

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  • Cover of: Cuentos de Andersen
    First published in 1984 12 editions in 2 languages — 1 previewable

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  • Cover of: Hans Christian Andersen
    First published in 1942 11 editions in 3 languages — 1 previewable

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  • Cover of: The sand-hills of Jutland
    First published in 1860 11 editions in 1 language — 4 previewable Cover of edition sandhillsjut00anderich Cover of edition sandhillsofjutla00andeiala Cover of edition sandhillsofjutla00ande

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  • Cover of: The ice-maiden: and other tales.
    First published in 1863 10 editions in 1 language — 2 previewable Cover of edition icemaidenandoth01andegoog

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  • Cover of: O. T. a Danish Romance
    First published in 1880 10 editions in 1 language — 1 previewable

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  • Cover of: The story of my life.
    First published in 1871 10 editions in 3 languages — 4 previewable Cover of edition storyofmyli00ande Cover of edition fairytaleofmylif0000ande Cover of edition fairytaleofmylif0000ande_q4n5

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  • Cover of: A poet's bazaar.
    First published in 1846 10 editions in 1 language — 4 previewable Cover of edition poetsbazaar01ande Cover of edition poetsbazaarpictu00andeiala Cover of edition poetsbazaarjourn0000ande

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  • Cover of: Andersen Masallari
    First published in 2000 9 editions — 1 previewable

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  • Cover of: Wonderful Stories for Children

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  • Cover of: Red Shoes
    First published in 1928 8 editions in 1 language

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  • Cover of: The two baronesses
    First published in 1848 8 editions in 1 language — 2 previewable Cover of edition twobaronesses0000hans

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  • Cover of: Pictures Of Sweden

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  • Cover of: Little Claus and Big Claus
    First published in 1951 8 editions in 3 languages — 1 previewable

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  • Cover of: Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen

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  • Cover of: Stories and tales
    First published in 1870 7 editions in 1 language — 2 previewable Cover of edition storiestales0000ande

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  • Cover of: Bildebuch ohne Bilder.

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  • Cover of: Andersen's Fairy Tales: Large Print

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  • Cover of: Le vilain petit canard
    First published in 1959 7 editions in 2 languages — 1 previewable

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  • Cover of: Gans Hristian Andersen. Skazki
    First published in 1955 7 editions in 1 language — 1 previewable

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  • Cover of: Poems.
    First published in 1955 6 editions in 2 languages

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June 30, 2023 Edited by Сергей Малышев Edited without comment.
April 14, 2023 Edited by Tom Morris Remove bad AKAs
September 27, 2022 Edited by Tom Morris merge authors
February 23, 2022 Edited by JeneeWhitney merge authors
April 1, 2008 Created by an anonymous user initial import