In what year did Hans Christian Andersen die? Hans Christian Andersen: short biography, interesting facts about the life of the storyteller, works and famous fairy tales

01.05.2019

Life without fairy tales is boring, empty and unpretentious. Hans Christian Andersen understood this perfectly. Even though his character was not easy, but opening the door to another magical story, people did not pay attention to this, but happily immersed themselves in a new, previously unheard of story.

Family

Hans Christian Andersen is a world famous Danish poet and prose writer. He has more than 400 fairy tales, which even today do not lose their popularity. Famous storyteller born in Odnes (Danish-Norwegian Union, Funen island) on April 2, 1805. He comes from a poor family. His father was a simple shoemaker, and his mother was a laundress. Throughout her childhood she was poor and begged on the street, and when she died, she was buried in a cemetery for the poor.

Hans's grandfather was a woodcarver, but in the town where he lived he was considered a little crazy. Being a creative person by nature, he carved wooden figures of half-humans, half-animals with wings, and to many such art was completely incomprehensible. Christian Andersen did poorly at school and wrote with errors until the end of his life, but from childhood he was attracted to writing.

Fantasy world

There is a legend in Denmark that Andersen came from a royal family. These rumors are due to the fact that the storyteller himself wrote in an early autobiography that he played as a child with Prince Frits, who years later became King Frederick VII. And he had no friends among the yard boys. But since Christian Andersen loved to compose, it is likely that this friendship was a figment of his imagination. Based on the storyteller's fantasies, his friendship with the prince continued even when they became adults. Apart from relatives, Hans was the only person from the outside who was allowed to visit the coffin of the late monarch.

The source of these fantasies was the stories of Andersen's father that he was a distant relative of the royal family. From early childhood, the future writer was a great dreamer, and his imagination was truly wild. More than once or twice he staged impromptu performances at home, acted out various skits and made adults laugh. His peers openly disliked him and often mocked him.

Difficulties

When Christian Andersen was 11 years old, his father died (1816). The boy had to earn his own living. He began working as an apprentice to a weaver, and later worked as a tailor's assistant. Then his work continued at a cigarette factory.

The boy had amazing big ones Blue eyes and a reserved character. He liked to sit alone somewhere in a corner and play puppet theater - his favorite game. This love for puppet shows he did not lose it even as an adult, carrying it in his soul until the end of his days.

Christian Andersen was different from his peers. Sometimes it seemed as if a hot-tempered “uncle” lived in the body of a little boy, and if you didn’t put your finger in his mouth, he would bite him off up to the elbow. He was too emotional and took everything too personally, which is why he was often subjected to physical punishment in schools. For these reasons, the mother had to send her son to a Jewish school, where various executions against students were not practiced. Thanks to this act, the writer was well aware of the traditions of the Jewish people and forever maintained a connection with them. He even wrote several stories on Jewish themes; unfortunately, they were never translated into Russian.

Years of youth

When Christian Andersen turned 14 years old, he headed to Copenhagen. The mother assumed that her son would return soon. In fact, he was still a child, and in such big city he had little chance of getting caught. But leaving Father's house, the future writer confidently declared that he would become famous. First of all, he wanted to find a job that he liked. For example, in the theater, which he loved so much. He received money for the trip from a man in whose house he often staged impromptu performances.

The first year of life in the capital did not bring the storyteller one step closer to fulfilling his dream. One day he came to the house famous singer and began to beg her to help him work in the theater. To get rid of the strange teenager, the lady made a promise that she would help him, but she never kept her word. Only many years later does she admit to him that, when she first saw him, she thought he was devoid of reason.

At that time, the writer was a lanky, thin and stooped teenager, with an anxious and bad character. He was afraid of everything: possible robbery, dogs, fire, loss of his passport. All his life he suffered from toothache and for some reason believed that the number of teeth affected his writing. He was also deathly afraid of getting poisoned. When Scandinavian children sent their favorite storyteller sweets, he was horrified to send the gift to his nieces.

It can be said that in adolescence Hans Christian Andersen himself was an analogue of the Ugly Duckling. But he had a surprisingly pleasant voice, and either thanks to him, or out of pity, he still got a place at the Royal Theater. True, he never achieved success. He was constantly given supporting roles, and when age-related breakdown of his voice began, he was completely kicked out of the troupe.

First works

But to put it briefly, Hans Christian Andersen was not very upset by the dismissal. At that time, he was already writing a five-act play and sent a letter to the king asking for financial assistance in publishing his work. In addition to the play, Hans Christian Andersen's book includes poems. The writer did everything to ensure that his work was sold. But neither announcements nor advertising campaigns in newspapers led to the expected level of sales. The storyteller did not give up. He took the book to the theater in the hope that a play would be staged based on his play. But here, too, disappointment awaited him.

Studies

The theater said that the writer lacked professional experience and offered him to study. People who sympathized with the unfortunate teenager sent a request to the King of Denmark himself to allow him to fill in the gaps in knowledge. His Majesty listened to the requests and provided the storyteller with the opportunity to receive an education at the expense of the state treasury. As the biography of Hans Christian Andersen says, his life took a sharp turn: he received a place as a student at a school in the city of Slagels, and later in Elsinore. Now the talented teenager did not need to think about how to earn a living. True, school science was difficult for him. The rector criticized him all the time educational institution, besides, Hans felt uncomfortable because he was older than his classmates. His studies ended in 1827, but the writer was never able to master grammar, so he wrote with errors for the rest of his life.

Creation

Considering the short biography of Christian Andersen, it is worth paying attention to his work. The writer brought his first ray of fame fantastic story"Journey on foot from the Holmen canal to the eastern end of Amager." This work was published in 1833, and for it the writer received an award from the king himself. The monetary reward enabled Andersen to make the trip abroad that he had always dreamed of.

This became the start, the runway, the beginning of a new life stage. Hans Christian realized that he could prove himself in another field, and not just in the theater. He began to write, and wrote a lot. Various literary works, including the famous “Fairy Tales” of Hans Christian Andersen, flew out from under his pen like hot cakes. In 1840, he once again tried to conquer the theater stage, but the second attempt, like the first, did not bring the desired result. But he was successful in the craft of writing.

Success and hate

The collection “Picture Book Without Pictures” was released into the world; 1838 was marked by the release of the second issue of “Fairy Tales”, and in 1845 the world saw the bestseller “Fairy Tales-3”. Step by step, Andersen became a famous writer, they talked about him not only in Denmark, but also in Europe. In the summer of 1847, he visited England, where he was greeted with honors and triumph.

The writer continues to write novels and plays. He wants to become famous as a novelist and playwright, but his true fame came from fairy tales, which he quietly begins to hate. Andersen no longer wants to write in this genre, but fairy tales appear from his pen again and again. In 1872, on Christmas Eve, Andersen wrote his last fairy tale. That same year, he carelessly fell out of bed and was seriously injured. He never managed to recover from his injuries, although he lived for another three years after the fall. The writer died on August 4, 1875 in Copenhagen.

The very first fairy tale

Not long ago in Denmark, researchers discovered a hitherto unknown fairy tale “The Tallow Candle” by Hans Christian Andersen. Summary This discovery is simple: the tallow candle cannot find its place in this world and becomes despondent. But one day she meets a flint that ignites a fire in her, to the delight of those around her.

In terms of its literary merits, this work is significantly inferior to fairy tales. late period creativity. It was written when Andersen was still in school. He dedicated the work to the priest's widow, Mrs. Bunkeflod. Thus, the young man tried to appease her and thank her for paying for his worthless science. Researchers agree that this work is filled with too much moralizing; there is not that gentle humor here, but only morality and “spiritual experiences of a candle.”

Personal life

Hans Christian Andersen never married and had no children. In general, he was not successful with women, and did not strive for this. However, he still had love. In 1840, in Copenhagen, he met a girl named Jenny Lind. Three years later he writes in his diary cherished words: "I love!" He wrote fairy tales for her and dedicated poems to her. But Jenny, turning to him, said “brother” or “child”. Although he was almost 40 years old, and she was only 26. In 1852, Lind married a young and promising pianist.

In his declining years, Andersen became even more extravagant: he often visited brothels and stayed there for a long time, but never touched the girls who worked there, but only talked to them.

As is known, in Soviet time foreign writers often released in shortened or revised versions. This did not bypass the works of the Danish storyteller: instead of thick collections, thin collections were published in the USSR. Soviet writers any mention of God or religion should have been removed (if that doesn’t work, softened). Andersen does not have non-religious works, it’s just that in some works this is immediately noticeable, while in others the theological subtext is hidden between the lines. For example, in one of his works there is a phrase:

Everything was in this house: wealth and arrogant gentlemen, but the owner was not in the house.

But the original says that in the house there is no owner, but the Lord.

Or take for comparison “The Snow Queen” by Hans Christian Andersen: the Soviet reader does not even suspect that when Gerda is scared, she begins to pray. It’s a little annoying that the words of the great writer were altered, or even thrown out altogether. After all, the real value and depth of a work can be understood by studying it from the first word to the last point set by the author. And in the retelling one already feels something fake, unspiritual and unreal.

A few facts

Finally, I would like to mention several little-known facts from the author’s life. The storyteller had Pushkin's autograph. "Elegy", signed by the Russian poet, is now in the Royal Danish Library. Andersen did not part with this work until the end of his days.

Every year on April 2, Children's Book Day is celebrated all over the world. In 1956, the International Children's Book Council awarded the storyteller a Gold Medal, the highest international award that can be received in modern literature.

During his lifetime, Andersen was erected a monument, the design of which he personally approved. At first, the project depicted the writer sitting surrounded by children, but the storyteller was outraged by this: “I wouldn’t be able to say a word in such an environment.” Therefore, the children had to be removed. Now, in a square in Copenhagen, a storyteller sits with a book in his hand, all alone. Which, however, is not so far from the truth.

Andersen cannot be called the life of the party, he could for a long time to be alone with himself, was reluctant to get along with people and seemed to live in a world that existed only in his head. No matter how cynical it may sound, his soul was like a coffin - designed for only one person, him. Studying the biography of the storyteller, one can draw only one conclusion: writing is a lonely profession. If you open this world to someone else, then the fairy tale will turn into an ordinary, dry story that is stingy with emotions.

“The Ugly Duckling”, “The Little Mermaid”, “The Snow Queen”, “Thumbelina”, “The King’s New Dress”, “The Princess and the Pea” and more than a dozen fairy tales were given to the world by the author’s pen. But in each of them there is a lonely hero (main or secondary - it doesn’t matter) in whom you can recognize Andersen. And this is correct, because only a storyteller can open the door to that reality where the impossible becomes possible. If he had erased himself from the fairy tale, it would have become a simple story without the right to exist.

Anderson Born into the family of a washerwoman and a shoemaker. This happened on April 2, 1805. Hans Christian Anderson I have been familiar with fairy tales since childhood. His father loved to read them to him. In the evenings he spoiled his children different stories– “A Thousand and One Nights”, the Bible, short stories, etc. Hans also inherited from his father a love of singing and theater. Especially for his son, the father built a home theater, and Hans himself came up with plots for the actions. Unfortunately this happy time It did not last long for the children - soon the elder Andersen died. His wife was left with their little daughter and Hans in her arms. As a child, the child interacted a lot with the mentally ill in the hospital where his grandmother then worked. The boy was captivated by their crazy stories and later wrote himself that it was his father’s songs and the stories of crazy people that made him a writer.
Hans Christian I had to go earn my own living. His seniority started as a weaver's assistant. Then he worked as a tailor’s assistant, and even worked for a while in a cigarette factory. Since Andersen loved to sing and had a clear, beautiful soprano voice, he often sang right in the factory, until the guys working with him caught him and pulled down his pants to check if he was a girl.
Hans Christian learned to read by the age of four. And he graduated from a school for the poor, but since Andersen grew up as an emotional and nervous child, his mother sent him to a Jewish school - since in all other schools at that time corporal punishment was in use. Andersen forever retained this connection with the Jewish people, knowledge of their traditions and language. Subsequently, Hans Christian even wrote several stories and fairy tales on a Jewish theme; they were never translated into Russian.
At the age of 14 the young man leaves native home and goes to Copenhagen. And for 3 years he has been trying to become an actor. At the same time he begins to write plays. But since they were still weak, they did not attract the attention of the management. However, from the theater Hans is accepted into a free gymnasium and even gets a scholarship for him. In the second half of the 20s of the 19th century, he began to publish his works. His poems were the first to see the light of day. Then the author published his fantastic story. But it was, of course, his fairy tales that brought him fame. The first fairy tales were published in 1835.

The second was published in 1839, and the third already in 1845. Oddly enough, Hans Christian Anderson did not like his fairy tales and protested when he was called a children's writer. He wanted to become famous as a playwright and novelist, and continued to write plays and novels in the second half of the 40s. But they were not as popular as his fairy tales. Therefore, he was forced to write them again and again. Andersen wrote his last fairy tale in 1872. This year Hans Christian was seriously injured and was treated for three years. However, already in 1875 he died and was buried in Copenhagen on famous cemetery Assistant

Author of world-famous fairy tales for children and adults: “The Ugly Duckling”, “The King’s New Clothes”, “Thumbelina”, “The Steadfast Tin Soldier”, “The Princess and the Pea”, “Ole Lukoie”, “ The Snow Queen"and many others.

Everyone knows the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen. And the brave little girl Gerda, who was not afraid of the Snow Queen, and the gentle Eliza, who pricked all her fingers with nettles while she was sewing magic shirts for her swan brothers... Everyone remembers that in the fairy tales of only this man roses can bloom from logs. And his things talk at night and tell their wonderful stories: love, disappointments, hopes...

But what do we know about this man himself, except that he lived in Denmark in the last century? Almost nothing. As translators A. and P. Ganzen write: “Unfortunately, this is the fate of the authors of the most beloved children’s books: having departed by age from a world where we can no longer return either in a flying chest or in seven-league boots, we rarely wonder who was the one who was invisibly next to us throughout our childhood."

I felt sad from these lines and wanted to tell you at least a little about the Great Storyteller, based on the small biographical material that I managed to find.

No one can tell about what happened better than the author.

Therefore, we will give the floor to Hans Christian Andersen himself.

He wrote: "My life a real fairy tale, eventful, beautiful! If at that time, when I was setting off across the world as a poor, helpless child, a powerful fairy had met me on the way and said to me: “Choose your path and your life’s work and I, in accordance with your talents and to the best of my ability, will protect and guide you!" - and then my life would not have become better, happier, more joyful..."

“In 1805, in the town of Odense (on the island of Fionia, Denmark),” Andersen continues, “a young couple lived in a poor closet - husband and wife, who loved each other endlessly: a young twenty-year-old shoemaker, a richly gifted poetic nature, and his wife, who had been for several years older, not knowing either life or light, but with a rare heart. Having only recently become a master, my husband put together with his own hands the entire furnishings of the shoemaker's workshop and even the bed. On this bed on April 2, 1805, a small, screaming lump appeared - I, Hans. “Christian Andersen. I grew up as an only child and therefore a spoiled one; I often had to hear from my mother how happy I was, because I lived much better than she did in childhood: well, just like a real count’s son!” When she was little, she was kicked out of the house, she couldn’t make up her mind and spent whole days sitting under the bridge, by the river, listening to her stories about this, I burst into burning tears.” (H.-H. Andersen “The Tale of My Life”. 1855, translation by A. Hansen) Already in early childhood the boy was distinguished by his emotionality and subtle perception of the world. Even the most insignificant impressions left a deep imprint on his soul.

“I remember an event that happened when I was six years old - the appearance of a comet in 1811. My mother told me that the comet would collide with the earth and break it into pieces or some other terrible thing would happen. I listened to all the rumors around and superstition started I have the same deep and strong roots as true faith (Ibid.)

The concept of faith was instilled in Andersen by his father, a man who loved books and possessed not only a vivid and subtle imagination, but also a large share of common sense. Andersen recalled: “Father read aloud to us not only comedies and stories, but historical books and the Bible. He thought deeply about what he read, but when he spoke about it with his mother, it turned out that she did not understand him; That’s why over the years he became more and more withdrawn into himself. One day he opened the Bible and said: “Yes, Jesus Christ was also a man like us, but an extraordinary man!” The mother was horrified by his words and burst into tears. I, too, got scared and began to ask God to forgive my father for such blasphemy."

To all the admonitions about God’s wrath and the machinations of the devil, the smart shoemaker answered: “There is no devil except what we carry in our hearts!” He loved his little son very much, communicated mainly with him: read various books aloud to him, walked through the forest. The shoemaker's cherished dream was to live in small house with front garden and rose bushes. Later, Andersen would describe similar houses in his famous fairy tales. But this dream was not destined to come true! From physical overstrain - he so wished that his family would not need anything! - Hans Christian's father fell ill and died suddenly. The mother, in order to support her son and be able to save money for his studies, had to look for daily work. She earned money by washing clothes. And a thin, lanky boy with huge blue eyes and an inexhaustible imagination sat at home all day long. Having finished simple chores, he hid in a corner and put on performances in his home. puppet theater, which his late father made for him. He composed plays for his theater himself!

Next door to the Andersens lived the family of the priest Bunkeflod: his widow and sisters. They fell in love with the inquisitive boy and often invited him to their place. “In this house,” Andersen wrote, “I first heard the word “poet,” pronounced with reverence, as something sacred...” In the same house, Hans Christian first became acquainted with the works of Shakespeare, and under the influence of the plays and dramas he read, composed my own. It was called: “Crucian carp and Elvira” and was proudly read aloud to the neighbor-cook. She rudely laughed at her. The young author burst into tears. His mother consoled him: “She says this because it was not her son who wrote such a play!” Hans Christian calmed down and took up new works.

“My love of reading,” he later wrote, “ good memory- I knew by heart many passages from dramatic works- and, finally, a wonderful voice - all this aroused some interest in me from the best families of our town." Andersen recalled the family of Colonel Högh-Gulberg with particular warmth.

The colonel tried to provide the boy with protection and introduced Hans Christian to Crown Prince Christian, who was then living in the palace in Odense (how small is beautiful Denmark!). (Later to King Christian VIII.)

Andersen writes little about the consequences of this audience, but apparently it was she who had a decisive influence on Hans Christian, who soon entered a school where only the Law of God, writing and arithmetic were taught, and even then very poorly. “I could barely write even one word correctly,” Andersen later recalled. “I never prepared my lessons at home - I learned them somehow on the way to school. I was often carried away by my dreams, God knows where, unconsciously looking at the wall hung with paintings, and I was fine I got it from the teacher for this. “I really loved,” the writer adds, “to tell other boys amazing stories in which the main thing was actor, was, of course, myself. I was often laughed at for this."

Bitter confession! The town was small, everything quickly became known. When Hans returned from school, the boys ran after him and, teasingly, shouted: “There, the comedy writer is running!” Having reached the house, Hans hid in a corner, cried and prayed to God for hours...

The mother, seeing her son’s strange hobbies, which brought nothing but grief to his impressionable heart, decided to apprentice him to a tailor so that children’s absurd fantasies would fly out of his head.

Hans-Christian was horrified by this prospect of his fate!

“I began to beg my mother to let me try my luck better by going to Copenhagen (this was in 1819), which in my eyes was then the capital of the world. “What are you going to do there?” asked my mother. “I will glorify you,” answered , and told her about what I knew about wonderful people born in poverty. “First, of course, you will have to endure a lot, and then you will become famous!” I said, I was overcome by some incomprehensible passion, I cried and asked. , and my mother finally gave in to my requests... She tied all my belongings into one modest bundle, made an agreement with the postman, and he promised to bring me to Copenhagen without a ticket in just three days... Finally, the day of departure came sadly. me outside the city gates...

The postman blew his horn; It was a beautiful sunny day and the sun shone in my childish soul: there was so much new around me, and besides, I was heading towards the goal of all my aspirations.

However, when we boarded the ship in Nyborg and began to move away from home island, I vividly felt all my loneliness and helplessness: I had no one on whom I could rely, no one except the Lord God... (H.-H. Andersen. The Tale of My Life. Translation from Danish by A. and P . Ganzen with the participation of O. Rozhdestvensky. Magazine "Coeval" No. 4. 1991).

At first, having arrived in the capital with a few coins in his pocket, Andersen was in poverty, but then, thanks to his voice, he found patrons in the conservatory professor Mr. Sibony, the composer Weise, the poet Goldberg and, mainly, the conference adviser Collin. With their assistance, Hans Christian entered the drama school, but having lost his voice, he went to study at a classical gymnasium and another school bench attracted the attention of teachers with his extraordinary talent as a storyteller and several poems. Having entered the university, Andersen in 1829 published the satirical story “A Journey on Foot from the Golme Canal to Amak.” His lyrical poems were a great success and Denmark soon recognized him as a poet. The main themes of Andersen's poetry are love for the Motherland, landscapes of Denmark and Christian themes. Many of his wonderful poems, later set to music, were transcriptions of biblical psalms and stories. Possessing an extraordinary mind and irony towards himself, Andersen, nevertheless, suffered incredibly from the lack of recognition of his talent and works by critics and a wide range of readers.

In the novel "The Improviser", a subtle psychological study about the fate of an artist whose gift for a long time made its way through the stone walls of contempt and uselessness, there are many autobiographical episodes. (This novel is still considered the pinnacle of Andersen’s work - a prose writer and psychologist, but was not republished after the revolution in Russia! The most complete publication in Russian now is Andersen’s five-volume edition translated by A. and P. Hansen, published in 1895! What’s wrong with that? say!)

Konstantin Paustovsky once noted that it is very difficult to find in Andersen’s complex biography the moment when he began writing fairy tales. One thing is certain: it was already in adulthood. Andersen gained fame as a poet, who was known among the people: children fell asleep to his lullabies, and as a traveler - several books were published about his travels in Sweden (1855) and Italy (1842).

He especially loved Italy. His book “Travel Shadows” (1831) - more than one generation of Europeans read about their impressions while traveling around the world! His plays were successfully performed on the theater stage: “Mulatto”, “Firstborn”, “Dreams of the King”, “More expensive than pearls and gold”. True, he watched them from the seats in the theater hall that were intended for common people and were separated from the luxurious seats of the aristocratic public by an iron strip! That's it!

Already Andersen's first fairy tales brought him fame The Greatest Poet. Small issues - brochures of fairy tales were devoured, editions with pictures were sold out in five minutes, poems and songs from these fairy tales were memorized by children. And the critics laughed!

Andersen wrote bitterly about this to his to an English friend Charles Dickens, saying that “Denmark is as rotten as the rotten islands on which it grew up!”

But the moments of despair quickly passed, especially in the company of children, who were very fond of the thin, tall, pointed-nosed gentleman in a black frock coat with an invariable flower in his buttonhole and a large handkerchief in his hands. He may not have been very handsome, but with what a living fire his huge blue eyes lit up when he began to tell the children his extraordinary stories!

He knew how to talk about the most serious things in a fairy tale in simple and clear language. A. Hansen, the unsurpassed translator of Andersen from Danish into Russian, wrote: “His imagination is completely childish. That’s why his paintings are so light and accessible. This is a magic lantern of poetry. Everything he touches comes to life before his eyes. Children love play with various pieces of wood, scraps of cloth, shards, pieces of stones... Andersen has the same thing: a fence stake, two dirty rags, a rusty darning needle... Andersen's paintings are so charming that they often give the impression of magical dreams, not only those around him. objects - for example, flowers, grass, but even the elements of nature, feelings and abstract concepts take on living images, turn into people..." (Quoted from: Brockhaus and Efron. Biographies. Vol. 1. Andersen.)

Andersen's imagination was so strong and unusual that sometimes he was bewilderedly called a sorcerer and a clairvoyant: after looking at a person twice, he could tell a lot about him, being completely unfamiliar with him. Many have read an episode from the biography of the storyteller (as translated by K. G. Paustovsky) about his night journey with three girls, each of whom he predicted the fate of. The strangest thing is that all his predictions were based on reality and came true! He had never seen these girls before. And they were shocked by the meeting with Andersen and retained the most reverent memories of him for the rest of their lives!

For such a divine gift of creation and imagination, Andersen paid a considerable price. He died alone at his Villa Rolighead on August 4, 1875, after a long illness that began in 1872. Literary sources silently mention his unhappy love for the famous Danish singer and actress, the “dazzling” Jeni Lind. It is unknown when this beautiful and poetic novel began. It ended in a breakup. Andersen believed that his calling was more important and stronger than family ties. Or maybe Ieni thought so... no one will know now...

P.S. During his lifetime, Andersen had a chance to see his own monument and illumination in Odense, predicted by a fortune teller back in 1819 to his mother. He smiled, looking at himself, sculpted. The little tin soldier given to the poor boy and the petals of the rose that the blue-eyed girl held out to him when he was walking down the street were dearer to him than all the awards and monuments. Both the soldier and the petals were carefully kept in the box. He often ran through them with his fingers, inhaled the faded, delicate aroma and recalled the words of the poet Ingeman, spoken to him in his youth: “You have the precious ability to find and see pearls in any gutter! See, do not lose this ability. This is your purpose, to be Maybe".

He didn't lose it. To end. Friends found sheets of paper with the text in his desk drawer new fairy tale, begun a few days before his death and almost completed. His pen was as flying and fast as his imagination!

G.-H. Andersen "The Tale of My Life" Translation by A. and P. Hansen with the participation of O. Rozhdestvensky. Magazine "Coeval". No. 4. 1991.

K.G. Paustovsky the Great Storyteller. Preface to the edition of fairy tales by G.-H. Andersen. A-Ata. Publishing house "Zhazushy." 1983

The biography of Hans Christian Andersen is a very illustrative example of how even from the poorest family, having the talent and desire to write poetry, fairy tales and other literary works, you can become a world-famous person. If at the age of 30 almost no one knew anything about him as a writer, and even if they knew, they criticized every next attempt to join the clan of writers with a new story, then later the name of H. H. Andersen will be recognized not only by him in his homeland, but also in many other countries of the world, for which his works were specially translated into about 100 languages. Mourning in Denmark on the day of the writer’s death, several monuments dedicated to both himself and the characters of his fairy tales, only confirm that everything written by Hans Christian Andersen was loved and continues to be loved by both the youngest and adult readers of fairy tales around the world.

Andersen Hans Christian

Several stages can be distinguished in the life of Hans Christian Andersen:

The future writer spent his childhood until the age of 14 in his homeland in the Danish city of Odense. From a very early age, Hans Christian Andersen was no stranger to theatrical scenes, which he organized himself, using a set of his dolls.

His youth, beginning with his relocation to Copenhagen, where, thanks to perseverance, he ended up on the stage of the royal theater, and then being fired from it, G. H. Andersen spends several years at school.

The work of Hans Christian Andersen begins in 1829 and continues until the end of his life, during which he managed to write many interesting works that are still readable to this day.

He was a Danish writer who belonged to the romantic school. Born in 1805 in the family of a shoemaker, in the ancient Danish city of Odense, which retained many medieval customs. He studied at a school for the poor, where he received the rudiments of knowledge in arithmetic and spelling. He began writing at the age of ten. At the age of fourteen he left his home and went to Copenhagen. In 1819, for the first time, his literary works attracted the attention of the theater management. Several poems were published in 1826-1827.

G.H. Andersen photo

Life of H.H. Andersen

Andersen wrote many poems, plays and novels, but for all humanity, he, first of all, of course, great storyteller. He wrote 156 fairy tales, which were translated into more than 100 languages.

In his youth, Andersen worked in a factory, where he was often embarrassed by the dirty jokes and dirty jokes of the workers on the shop floor. He naturally had a magnificent soprano voice, and he often loved to sing right in the factory until the day the workers pulled down his pants to make sure whether he was a boy or a girl. When he was 14 years old, Hans went to Copenhagen in search of a better life.

Andersen was a tall, thin man with small blue eyes and a pointed nose that stood out on his face. His arms and legs were disproportionately long, and when he walked down the street, passers-by called him “stork” or “lamppost.” Andersen often suffered from depression and was very vulnerable and touchy. He was so afraid of dying from fire that when he traveled, he always took a rope with him, hoping to escape with it in case of fire. He was also very afraid that he would be buried alive, and asked his friends that in any case one of his arteries would be cut before he was placed in the coffin. When he was sick, he often left a note on the table and bed. It said: “It just seems like I’m dead.” Andersen became one of the most famous writers in the world and an honored guest of the royal courts of Europe. He spent the last years of his life completely alone in Copenhagen. He died of liver cancer.

Andersen never had sexual relations with either women or men, although he, of course, had ordinary physical desires. In 1834 in Naples, he wrote in his diary: “All-consuming sensual desires and internal struggles... I still retain my innocence, but I am all on fire... I am half sick. Happy is he who is married, and happy is he who is at least engaged.”

Despite all the suffering, Andersen never managed to make the right impression on those women whom he chose as a partner.

In Andersen's life there were three significant meetings with women, but he was never able to evoke a reciprocal feeling in any of them. The first of these women was Riborg Voigt, his 24-year-old sister school friend. Andersen, who was a year younger than Riborg, was impressed by her pretty face and spontaneity. If Andersen had been more persistent and decisive, he could have mastered it, but, alas, he was not. When Andersen died many years later, they found a small leather bag in his possession, which contained a letter he had once received from Riborg. It was never read by anyone, since, according to Andersen’s instructions, the letter was immediately burned.

Next up was 18-year-old Louise Collin. At first, Andersen only needed sympathy from her to recover from his breakup with Riborg. Gradually he got used to her and saw that she was unusually beautiful. He was in love again, but she was indifferent to him. To stem the flow of Andersen's fiery love letters, Louise told him that all his correspondence was reviewed by her older married sister before reaching her (this practice actually existed in those days). After some time, Louise married a young lawyer.

Jenny Lind came into Andersen's life in 1843. This tall, slender blonde with a magnificent figure and huge gray eyes was called the “Swedish nightingale” in Europe. She came to Copenhagen with concerts. Andersen showered her with poems and gifts. In 1846 he came to Berlin, hoping to meet her at Christmas. However, there was no invitation from her, and Andersen celebrated the holiday in his hotel room completely alone. She only called Jenny Andersen “brother” or “friend.” He was in complete despair when Jenny married in 1852.

Andersen developed close friendships with three men: Edward Collin (brother of Louise Collin), the Crown Duke of Weimar (whom he met during a trip to Germany in 1844), and the Danish ballet dancer Harald Schraff. His “love letters” especially to Collin, who was completely heterosexual, may even suggest that Andersen was a closet homosexual. In reality, Andersen was simply a hopelessly unlucky eccentric in love affairs who longed for deep feelings, affection and words of approval and admiration. During his trips to Paris after 1860, Andersen sometimes visited brothels. There he enjoyed polite, pleasant conversations with naked prostitutes. He was shocked and unusually indignant when one of his acquaintances in a conversation only slightly hinted to him that he probably went to the brothel not only to talk.

It is absolutely impossible to believe that Andersen was actually

Yes, Ole-Lukoje could have composed all these fairy tales, but a simple person could not. It’s just that a person doesn’t know what the darning needle is thinking about, doesn’t hear what the rose bush and a family of gray sparrows are talking about, he can’t see what color the dress of the elf princess, who has been called Thumbelina for some time now...

Okay, so be it, let it really be composed by some extraordinary man named Andersen, but then, that means it was a terribly long time ago, God knows when and in some special place that is hard to even imagine, and Andersen himself is as blond as elf... no! like a prince...
And suddenly - a photograph.

Well, at least a watercolor portrait or a thin pen sketch! But no: photography. One, two, three. And everywhere there is such a face... a little... a little funny, the nose is so long, long... True, the hair still curls, but is this person?..

Yes, yes, exactly this one. And please stop looking so shamelessly. Hans Christian suffered all his life from the fact that he seemed ugly to himself. And if you think that Andersen’s fairy tales were born on velvet pillows, between lace cuffs and golden candlesticks, then you are deeply mistaken...

...In the small country of Denmark there is a small island of Funen, and on it the city of Odense, which may seem small or large, depending on how you count. Now six thousand people can live in one skyscraper, and in 1805 six thousand lived in the entire city of Odense, and at the same time it was the capital of the island of Funen.

Hans Christian Andersen's father's name was Hans Christian Andersen, and he was a shoemaker. There are different types of shoemakers - poor and rich. Andersen was poor. In fact, he didn’t want to be a shoemaker at all, he dreamed of only two joys - studying and traveling. And since neither one nor the other succeeded, he endlessly read and re-read fairy tales called “A Thousand and One Nights” to his son and took him for a walk in the vicinity of the quiet city of Odense, which was probably small after all, if already after in a few minutes it was possible to go out into the fields.

The elder Hans Christian Andersen died very early, but still managed to do another great thing - go with his son to the theater, which, imagine, was very small town Odense.

This is where it all started!

Do you think the great storyteller Andersen was going to become a storyteller or even a writer? Nothing like this. He wanted to become an actor and only an actor, he wanted to sing on stage, dance and recite poetry. Moreover, he did all this well, and the local nobility of the city of Odense looked with curiosity at the thin, terribly long and completely ugly boy who sang so loudly and could read poetry for hours.

Now, please tell me, at what age should a person develop character, and when is it finally time to take the first decisive action?

Andersen left home when he was fourteen years old. Oh, how his mother cried! She was a washerwoman, she knew that the water in the Odense River was very cold and it was difficult to make a living. She knew how bad it was to be poor and how good it would be if her son learned to be a tailor and finally began to earn money... He also cried, but tightly held in his hand a bundle with several coins and a festive dress. She said: “Why?!” He answered her: “To become famous!” And he also explained to his mother that for this you need to go through a lot, a lot.

If only he knew how right he was then, at the age of fourteen!.. Don’t you think that all this is very similar to a fairy tale? Now several adventures will happen, then the hero will defeat everyone, marry the princess...

When Hans Christian Andersen wrote his autobiography, he called it “The Tale of My Life.” But to be honest, this Long story didn’t look much like a fairy-tale adventure with a happy ending.

...When he failed to become an actor, Andersen began to write. First poetry, plays and vaudeville, then novels. He wrote a lot, but suffered terribly, because for a long time no one liked his works. Only in 1835 did Hans Christian, already thirty years old, still poor and almost unknown, finally write on a piece of paper: “A soldier was walking along the road: one-two! one-two! A satchel on his back, a saber on his side, he was walking home from the war..."
It was the fairy tale "Flint". And this was the beginning of a new life not only for the lanky, strange Dane named Andersen, but for all people who can read.

It turned out that there is no need to write fairy tales. You just need to wake them up. “I have a lot of material,” wrote Andersen, “sometimes it seems to me that every fence, every small flower says: “Look at me, and the story of my whole life will be revealed to you!” And as soon as I do this, I have a story ready about any of them.”

The first collection, published in 1835, was called “Fairy Tales Told to Children.” Then “New Fairy Tales”, “Stories” (in fact, also fairy tales), and finally “New Fairy Tales and Stories” appeared.

They scattered around the world almost instantly, they were translated into different languages and into Russian too. Andersen knew about this. He even received his own as a gift own volume in Russian and responded to the first translators with a very kind letter.

You see: this man has achieved his goal! He became world famous. In all European capitals they were ready to endlessly receive and honor the “great storyteller,” and the hometown of Odense declared the washerwoman’s son its honorary citizen, and on the day this celebration took place, fireworks thundered in the city, all children were exempted from school, and a crowd of enthusiastic residents shouted “hurray” in the square! The most famous people of that time, writers and poets became friends or at least acquaintances of Andersen. He traveled all over the world and saw what his father once dreamed of... So what's the matter?!

One researcher wrote this: “It was probably very strange for Andersen to live among ordinary people...”

This is the truth. It’s strange, a little scary, a little more offensive and, in the end, lonely.

He died in the house of friends... Of course, it’s good that he had friends, but still not at home. They admired him, they were polite to him, but one of his closest friends refused to say “you” to Hans Christian, because the friend was an aristocrat, and Andersen’s surname ended in “sen” - like the surnames of all commoners in Denmark. As for the princess... He fell in love more than once, but all the “princesses” admired his works, offered friendly participation - and nothing more. Mom died while he was on a long journey. And on the day of Andersen’s death, national mourning was declared in Denmark.

But there is no need to be sad. Remember how the fairy tale about flax ends? Now he has already become paper, and the paper was thrown into a burning oven, and the paper turned into dead ash, carefree children are jumping around and singing a song, and above the ash, above the children’s heads, “invisible tiny creatures” rise up, and they rise with these words: “The song never ends, that’s the most wonderful thing! I know this and therefore I’m happier than everyone!”

Of Andersen's works, published in the second half of his life, it should be noted, in addition to fairy tales, the poem "Ahasfer", the novels - "Two Baronesses" and "To Be or Not to Be"; in 1846 he began to write his artistic autobiography, “The Tale of My Life,” which he completed in 1875, last year own life.

Andersen's life is clearly reflected in his works, the heroes of which are almost always representatives of the poor, noble at heart, talented, but suffering from contempt powerful of the world this (“The Improviser”, “It’s Only the Violinist”, “Petka the Lucky Man”).

Of all that Andersen wrote, his dramas are certainly the weakest, his fairy tales the most significant. Andersen took plots for fairy tales from folk sagas, ancient poetic works, stories heard in childhood, most importantly from everyday reality. The abundance of descriptions of nature distinguishes Andersen's fairy tales from folk tales, and in these descriptions high artistry is combined with geographical accuracy. Often Andersen's fairy tales are completely devoid of magic, outwardly realistic, their “fabulousness” is only in internal qualities heroes. Most fairy tales are imbued with gentle humor and heartfelt kindness. While truly children's in form, Andersen's fairy tales are so serious in content that they are completely accessible only to adults.

The unusually living language of fairy tales, the language of Andersen the improviser, the storyteller, which was equally heard among both children and adults, is based on: 1. on syntactic features, for which the inert Danish criticism hounded Andersen for so long, 2. on the abundance of onomatopoeia and on the extraordinary dynamism of the descriptions. These latter features are what make his fairy tales so beloved among children. The aesthetic admiration of antiquity and the purely human pity for everything that is obsolete, characteristic of Andersen, are never combined in him, as in some German romantics, with ideological admiration for the past. The son of a shoemaker, a poet from the people, who has experienced all the thorns of class society, he never misses an opportunity to emphasize his sympathy for the oppressed, his faith in the future. But Andersen did not rise to the level of understanding social problems of its time. His ideology is Christian philanthropic. His worldview is imbued with naive moralism. Good feelings, strength moral improvement a person is for Andersen the key to a better life.

Biography of Hans Christian Andersen in dates

1819 - Deciding to become an actor, Andersen leaves his home and goes to Copenhagen, where he becomes a student dancer at the Royal Ballet. He fails to become an actor, but he literary experiments attract the attention of the theater management. He receives a scholarship and the right to free education at a Latin school.
1826 – Andersen publishes several poems (“The Dying Child”, etc.).
1828 – enters the university and publishes his first book, “A Journey on Foot from the Galmen Canal to the Island of Amager” and the play “Love on the St. Nicholas Tower.” The name of Andersen soon becomes famous, however, both Danish society and Danish criticism tirelessly and long after he received general recognition abroad, disparage him for his origin, for his appearance, for the eccentricities of the poet, which are attributed to vanity, for errors in spelling and innovation in a style that qualifies as illiteracy.
1829 - Andersen begins to live exclusively on literary earnings, which is why he suffers severe poverty.
1833 - Andersen receives a Royal Scholarship, which allowed him to make his first big trip to Europe, followed by several more. At the beginning of the journey, he writes the poem “Agnetha and the Sailor” based on the Danish story folk song; in Switzerland - the fairy tale “The Ice Girl”; in Rome, which he especially loved, where his friendship with the famous sculptor Thorvaldsen was born, he begins his first novel, “The Improviser,” which brought him European fame. The Improviser depicts the nature of Italy and the life of the Roman poor.
1834 - Andersen returns to his homeland.
1835-1837 - Andersen publishes three collections - “Fairy Tales Told for Children” (Eventyr, fortalte for born), which includes the fairy tales “Flint”, “The Princess and the Pea”, “The Little Mermaid”, “The King’s New Clothes” and others. Fairy Tales cause contradictory responses in Danish criticism, which could not understand Andersen’s innovations, which transformed the genre of literary fairy tales, which were very popular in the era of romanticism. The author was told that his works were too lightweight for adults and not edifying enough to serve the education of children.
1837 – the novel “Only the Violinist” (Kun en spillemand) is published.
Gradually, fairy tales begin to occupy a major place in Andersen’s work. Second half of the 30s and 40s. - the period of Andersen's creative heyday. By this time belong famous fairy tales“The Steadfast Tin Soldier” (1838), “The Nightingale” (1843), “The Ugly Duckling” (1843), “The Snow Queen” (1844), “The Little Match Girl” (1845), “The Shadow” (1847), “Mother” "(1848), etc., as well as "The Book of Pictures without Pictures" (1840), where Andersen acts as a master of miniature short stories. The writer calls his collections “New Fairy Tales” and emphasizes that they are addressed not only to children, but also to adults.
In collections of the 40s. under common name“Fairy Tales” combines works of different genres. The fairy tale itself, built on the action of magical forces, is absent here, but the organic connection with folklore is obvious, although it is expressed not in the direct use of the plot, but in the presence of moral criteria inherent in the folk tale, individual motives and images woven into the modern plot (“The Swineherd” , 1841, “Hill of the Elves”, 1845). Fairy tales close to fables occupy a significant place here (“Darning Needle,” “Bride and Groom,” “Collar,” etc.). Some fairy tales are essentially short stories (" an old house", "The Little Match Girl").
1846 - Andersen begins to write his artistic autobiography “The Tale of My Life” (Mit livs eventyr), which he completes in 1875, the last year of his life.
1848 – the poem “Ahasfer” is published.
1849 – the novel “The Two Baronesses” is published.
1853 - the novel To Be or Not to Be is published.
August 1, 1875 - Andersen died in Copenhagen. The homeland honored the memory of Andersen by installing a statue of the heroine of his fairy tale “The Little Mermaid” on the Copenhagen embankment, which became a symbol of the city.

Andersen wrote novels, plays, travel books, and poems, but he remained in literature primarily as the author of fairy tales and stories, which comprised 24 collections published in 1835-1872.

He especially loved Italy. His book “Travel Shadows” (1831) - more than one generation of Europeans read about their impressions while traveling around the world! His plays were successfully performed on the theater stage: “Mulatto”, “Firstborn”, “Dreams of the King”, “More expensive than pearls and gold”. True, he watched them from seats in the theater hall, which were intended for the common people and were separated from the luxurious seats of the aristocratic audience by an iron strip! That's it!

Already Andersen's first fairy tales brought him fame as the Greatest Poet. Small editions—brochures of fairy tales—were devoured, editions with pictures were sold out in five minutes, children learned poems and songs from these fairy tales by heart. And the critics laughed!

Andersen wrote bitterly about this to his English friend Charles Dickens, saying that “Denmark is as rotten as the rotten islands on which it grew up!”

He knew how to talk about the most serious things in a fairy tale in simple and clear language. A. Hansen, the unsurpassed translator of Andersen from Danish into Russian, wrote: “His imagination is completely childish. That’s why his paintings are so easy and accessible. This is the magic lantern of poetry. Everything he touches comes to life before his eyes. Children love to play with various pieces of wood, scraps of cloth, shards, pieces of stones... Andersen has the same thing: a fence stake, two dirty rags, a rusty darning needle... Andersen's paintings are so charming that they often give the impression of magical dreams. Not only the objects around him - for example, flowers, grass, but even the elements of nature, feelings and abstract concepts take on living images, turn into people...” (Quoted from: Brockhaus and Efron. Biographies. Vol. 1. Andersen.)

Andersen's imagination was so strong and unusual that sometimes he was bewilderedly called a sorcerer and a clairvoyant: after looking at a person twice, he could tell a lot about him, being completely unfamiliar with him. Many have read an episode from a short biography of the storyteller (as translated by K. G. Paustovsky) about his night journey with three girls, each of whom he predicted the fate of. The strangest thing is that all his predictions were based on reality and came true! He had never seen these girls before. And they were shocked by the meeting with Andersen and retained the most reverent memories of him for the rest of their lives!

For such a divine gift of creation and imagination, Andersen paid a considerable price. He died alone at his Villa Rolighead on August 4, 1875, after a long illness that began in 1872. Literary sources silently mention his unhappy love for the famous Danish singer and actress, the “dazzling” Jeni Lind. It is unknown when this beautiful and poetic romance began. It ended in a breakup. Andersen believed that his calling was more important and stronger than family ties. Or maybe Ieni thought so... no one will know now...

P.S. During his lifetime, Andersen had a chance to see his own monument and illumination in Odense, predicted by a fortune teller back in 1819 to his mother. He smiled, looking at himself, sculpted. The little tin soldier given to the poor boy and the petals of the rose that the blue-eyed girl held out to him when he was walking down the street were dearer to him than all the awards and monuments. Both the soldier and the petals were carefully kept in the box. He often ran them through his fingers, inhaled the faded, delicate aroma and recalled the words of the poet Ingeman, spoken to him in his youth: “You have the precious ability to find and see pearls in any gutter! Be careful not to lose this ability. This is your purpose, perhaps.”

In his desk drawer, friends found sheets of paper with the text of a new fairy tale, begun a few days before his death and almost completed. His pen was as flying and fast as his imagination!

Hans Christian Andersen was a very talented writer, few can demonstrate such a number of high-quality and interesting writings fairy tales. Andersen managed to open the door for us fairy world, but to open it completely we need imagination and fantasy. This works well for young children. But in the older generation there are also those who, even at the age of 50, enthusiastically reread his fairy tales. There is only one conclusion, we must say thank you to this wonderful writer and never forget him, who he was, how he grew up and what difficulties he went through to give us the pleasure of reading his stories.

Is there a connection between the content of fairy tales and events in Andersen's life?

This question was probably asked by readers of Andersen’s fairy tales and those familiar with his biography, at least briefly. Not finding recognition in theater arts, reciprocity from the opposite sex, Hans Christian Andersen had great difficulty in finding his place in the surrounding society in much the same way as the characters in his fairy tales such as “Thumbelina” or “The Ugly Duckling” do. Whether there is a connection between the events in these works and the life of Hans Christian Andersen himself, one could only ask the author himself, but apparently, he left the right to answer this question in his own way to each of us.

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Biography, life story of Hans Christian Andersen

The world famous writer Hans Christian Andersen was born in Denmark in 1805 on April 2 on the island of Funen in the city of Odense. His father, Hans Andersen, was a shoemaker, and his mother, Anna Marie Andersdatter, worked as a laundress. Andersen was not a relative of the king, this is a legend. He himself invented that he was a relative of the king and as a child played with Prince Frits, who later became the king. The source of the legend was Andersen's father, who told him many fairy tales and told the boy that they were relatives of the king. The legend was supported by Andersen himself throughout his life. Everyone believed in her so much that Andersen was allowed to be the only one other than his relatives to visit the king’s coffin.

Andersen studied at a Jewish school because he was afraid to go to regular school, where children were beaten. Hence his knowledge of Jewish culture and traditions. He grew up as a delicately nervous child. After his father's death in 1816, he had to earn a living by working as an apprentice. In 1819 he went to Copenhagen, buying his first boots. He dreamed of becoming an artist and went to the theater, where he was taken out of pity, but then kicked out after his voice broke. While working in the theater between 1819 and 1822, he received several private lessons in German, Danish and Latin. He began to write tragedies and dramas. After reading his first drama, The Sun of the Elves, the management of the Royal Theater helped Andersen receive a scholarship from the king to study at the gymnasium. He began to study at the gymnasium, where he was cruelly humiliated, since he was 6 years older than his classmates. Impressed by his studies at the gymnasium, he wrote famous poem"The Dying Child" Andersen begged his guardian to take him out of the gymnasium, and in 1827 he was sent to a private school. In 1828, Hans Christian Andersen managed to enter the university in Copenhagen. He combined his studies at the university with his activities as a writer. He wrote a vaudeville which was performed at the Theater Royal. In addition, the first was written romantic prose. Using the fees he received, Andersen went to Germany, where he met several interesting people and wrote many works inspired by the trip.

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In 1833, Hans Christian made a gift to King Frederick - it was a cycle of his poems about Denmark, and after that he received a monetary allowance from him, which he spent entirely on traveling around Europe. Since then he has traveled continuously and been abroad 29 times, and also lived outside Denmark for about ten years. Andersen met many writers and artists. During his travels, he drew inspiration for his creativity. He had the gift of improvisation, the gift of transforming poetic images your impressions. His novel The Improviser, which was published in 1835, brought him European fame. Then many novels, comedy, melodrama and fairy-tale plays were written, which had a long and happy fate: “Oil-Lukoil”, “More expensive than pearls and gold” and “Mother Elder”. Andersen gained worldwide fame from his fairy tales for children. The first collections of fairy tales were published in 1835-1837, then in 1840, a collection of fairy tales and short stories for children and adults was published. Among these fairy tales were "The Snow Queen", "Thumbelina", "The Ugly Duckling" and others.

In 1867, Hans Christian Andersen received the rank of state councilor and the title of honorary citizen of his hometown Odense. He was also awarded the Order of Danebrog in Denmark, the Order of the White Falcon First Class in Germany, the Order of the Red Eagle Third Class in Prussia, and the Order of St. Olav in Norway. In 1875, by order of the king, it was announced on the writer’s birthday that a monument to Andersen would be erected in Copenhagen in the royal garden. The writer did not like the models of several monuments where he was surrounded by children. Andersen did not consider himself a children's writer and did not value his fairy tales, but continued to write more and more. He never married or had children. In 1872 he wrote his last fairy tale for Christmas. This year, an accident happened to the writer; he fell out of bed and was seriously injured. He was treated for this injury for the last three years of his life. He spent the summer of 1975 at his friends' villa, being seriously ill. On August 4, 1875, Andersen died in Copenhagen; the day of his funeral was declared a national day of mourning in Denmark. The royal family attended the writer's funeral. In 1913, it was installed in Copenhagen famous monument The Little Mermaid, which has since become considered a symbol of Denmark. In Denmark, two museums are dedicated to Hans Christian Andersen - in Ourense and Copenhagen. Hans Christian's birthday, April 2, has long been celebrated as International Children's Book Day. Awarded annually by the International Children's Book Council since 1956 Golden medal Hans Christian Andersen, which is the highest international award in modern children's literature.