| Hans Christian Andersen | |
|---|---|
 | |
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Real Name |
Hans Christian Andersen |
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Born |
2 April, 1805 |
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Died |
4 August, 1875 |
Origin[]
Hans Christian Andersen In Real Life Comics #40
Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish master of the literary fairy tale whose stories achieved wide renown. He is also the author of plays, novels, poems, travel books, and several autobiographies. While many of those works are almost unknown outside Denmark, his fairy tales are among the most frequently translated works in all of literary history.
Andersen was born on April 2, 1805, in Denmark. While the Andersen family was not wealthy, young Andersen was educated in boarding schools for the privileged. In 1819, Andersen traveled to Copenhagen to work as an actor. He returned to school after a short time, supported by a patron named Jonas Collin. He began writing during this period, at Collin's urging, but was discouraged from continuing by his teachers.
Andersen's work first gained recognition in 1829, with the publication of a short story entitled "A Journey on Foot from Holmen's Canal to the East Point of Amager." The promising young author won a grant from the king, allowing him to travel across Europe and further develop his body of work. A novel based on his time in Italy, The Improvisatore, was published in 1835. The same year, Andersen began producing fairy tales.
Despite his success as a writer up to this point, Andersen did not initially attract attention for his writing for children. Over the following decades, he continued to write for both children and adults, penning several autobiographies, travel narratives and poetry extolling the virtues of the Scandinavian people. In 1845, English translations of Andersen's folktales and stories began to gain the attention of foreign audiences.
Andersen sustained a serious injury in 1872 after falling from bed in his Copenhagen home. His final publication, a collection of stories, appeared the same year. Around this time, he started to show signs of liver cancer that would take his life. Andersen died on August 4, 1875, in Copenhagen.
They have become embedded in Western collective consciousness, accessible to children as well as presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers. His most famous characters are known all over the world.
Public Domain Literary Works[]
All works written by or featuring Hans Christian Andersen published before January 1, 1929 are in the public domain in the US.
Some notable works are listed below:
- "The Emperor's New Clothes"
- "The Little Mermaid"
- "The Nightingale"
- "The Steadfast Tin Soldier"
- "The Red Shoes"
- "The Princess and the Pea"
- "The Snow Queen"
- "The Ugly Duckling"
- "The Little Match Girl"
- "Thumbelina"
Public Domain Comic Appearances[]
- Real Life Comics #40
- Hans Christian Anderson #1
Notes[]
- A list of public domain character created by Hans Christian Andersen can be found here.