Hans Christian Andersen (1805 -1875)

 

Writer, one of the world's great story-tellers, born in Odense, Denmark. After his father's death he worked in a factory, but soon displayed a talent for poetry. He became better known by his Walk to Amager, a literary satire in the form of a humorous narrative. In 1830 he published the first collected volume of his Poems, and in 1831 a second, under the title of Fantasies and Sketches. He wrote many other works, but it is such fairy-tales as "The Tin Soldier', "The Tinderbox', and "The Ugly Duckling' that have gained him lasting fame and delighted children throughout the world.