Hans Christian Andersen's Life Story: From a Poor Boy in Odense to the Little Mermaid and the Ugly Duckling

Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875) was a Danish writer, born poor in the town of Odense, who became world famous for his fairy tales: 156 stories in nine volumes, including The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, The Snow Queen and The Emperor's New Clothes, translated into more than 125 languages. He also wrote novels, plays, poems and travel books, but it is the fairy tales, written for children yet full of sadness and irony for adults, that made his name last.

A poor boy with big dreams

Andersen was born in Odense on 2 April 1805. His father, who had some elementary schooling, read him the Arabian Nights and encouraged his love of stories; his mother was an illiterate washerwoman. After his father's death, the boy went to a local school for poor children and worked as an apprentice to a weaver and then a tailor. At just 14, he moved to Copenhagen hoping to become an actor. He had a good soprano voice and was accepted into the Royal Danish Theatre, but his voice soon changed.

Help from a patron

Jonas Collin, a director of the Royal Danish Theatre, became fond of the strange, determined young man. He sent Andersen to a grammar school in Slagelse and persuaded King Frederick VI to pay part of his education. School was hard for Andersen, who was much older than his classmates and often unhappy there, but it gave him the education he needed to write.

The fairy tales begin

Andersen first had success with travel writing and novels. Then, on 8 May 1835, a thin booklet appeared with four tales: The Tinderbox, Little Claus and Big Claus, The Princess and the Pea and Little Ida's Flowers; the first three were based on folk tales he had heard as a child. More booklets followed. Thumbelina appeared later that year, and in 1837 came The Little Mermaid and The Emperor's New Clothes. Unlike collectors such as the Brothers Grimm, Andersen mostly invented his own stories, or reshaped old ones in his own voice.

The Ugly Duckling: his own story?

The Ugly Duckling, first published in 1843, tells of a bird mocked for being clumsy and ugly who finally discovers that he is a beautiful swan. Many readers see it as a picture of Andersen's own life: the awkward, poor boy who was laughed at and later became a celebrated writer. A line from the tale sums it up: it doesn't matter about being born in a duckyard, as long as you are hatched from a swan's egg.

Fame and friendship

By the 1840s Andersen was famous across Europe. On his first visit to England in 1847 he met Charles Dickens and admired him greatly. Ten years later he returned mainly to visit Dickens, but stretched a planned short stay at Dickens's home into five weeks, to the family's distress; afterwards Dickens slowly stopped writing to him. Andersen never married. He died in Copenhagen on 4 August 1875 and is buried in the Assistens Cemetery there.

Why his tales are different

Andersen's stories are not always happy. The little mermaid gives up her voice and does not win the prince; the little match girl freezes in the snow. Yet they are full of wit, kindness and sharp observation. The Emperor's New Clothes, in which only a child dares to say that the emperor is wearing nothing, is still quoted whenever people pretend to admire something empty. Statues of Andersen stand in Copenhagen, and his birthday, 2 April, is celebrated as International Children's Book Day.

Learn with Andersen: English phrases

Phrase	Meaning	Example
an ugly duckling	someone who later becomes impressive	She was the ugly duckling of her class.
the emperor's new clothes	something everyone pretends to admire	The new plan is the emperor's new clothes.
a fairy-tale ending	a perfect happy ending	Their story had a fairy-tale ending.
to come into your own	to finally show your true ability	He came into his own as a writer.
rags to riches	from poverty to success	It's a real rags-to-riches story.

Try this: Write three English sentences about someone who grew from an "ugly duckling" into a success, using "rags to riches".