View source for Hans Christian Andersen

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{{Short description|Danish writer (1805–1875)}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox writer
| name          = Hans Christian Andersen
| image         = HCA by Thora Hallager 1869 crop.jpg
| caption       = Andersen in 1869
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1805|4|2|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Odense]], [[Funen]], Denmark<!--See MOS:GEOLINK-->
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1875|8|4|1805|4|2|df=y}}
| death_place   = [[Østerbro]], [[Copenhagen]], Denmark
| resting_place = [[Assistens Cemetery (Copenhagen)|Assistens Cemetery]], Copenhagen (København)
| occupation    = Writer
| period        = [[Danish Golden Age]]
| genres        = [[Children's literature]], [[travel literature|travelogue]]
| notableworks  = "[[The Little Mermaid]]"<br />"[[The Ugly Duckling]]"<br />"[[The Snow Queen]]"<br />"[[The Emperor's New Clothes]]"
| signature     = Hans Christian Andersen Signature.svg
| website       = {{URL|andersen.sdu.dk|Hans Christian Andersen Centre}}
}}
'''Hans Christian Andersen''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|n|d|ər|s|ən}} {{respell|AN|dər|sən}}, {{IPA|da|ˈhænˀs ˈkʰʁestjæn ˈɑnɐsn̩, - ˈkʰʁæs-|lang|Da-Hans_Christian_Andersen.ogg}}; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, [[travelogue (literature)|travelogue]]s, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary [[fairy tale]]s.

Andersen's fairy tales, consisting of 156 stories across nine volumes,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fairy tales |url=https://andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/register/eventyr_e.html |website=H.C. Andersen Centret}}</ref> have been translated into more than 125 languages.<ref name="cphpost">{{cite news |last=Wenande |first=Christian |date=13 December 2012 |title=Unknown Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale discovered |newspaper=The Copenhagen Post |url=https://cphpost.dk/2012-12-13/general/unknown-hans-christian-andersen-fairy-tale-discovered/ |url-status=live |access-date=15 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121214223500/http://cphpost.dk/news/international/unknown-hans-christian-andersen-fairy-tale-discovered |archive-date=14 December 2012}}</ref> They have become embedded in [[Western culture|Western]] [[collective consciousness]], accessible to children as well as presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers.<ref name="Wullschläger 2000">{{harvnb|Wullschläger|2000}}, p. 388</ref> His most famous fairy tales include "[[The Emperor's New Clothes]]", "[[The Little Mermaid]]", "[[The Nightingale (fairy tale)|The Nightingale]]", "[[The Steadfast Tin Soldier]]", "[[The Red Shoes (fairy tale)|The Red Shoes]]", "[[The Princess and the Pea]]", "[[The Snow Queen]]", "[[The Ugly Duckling]]", "[[The Little Match Girl]]", and "[[Thumbelina]]." Andersen's stories have inspired ballets, plays, and animated and live-action films.<ref name="Bredsdorff 1975">{{harvnb|Bredsdorff|1975}}</ref>

==Early life==
[[File:H.C. Andersens Barndomshjemmet2.JPG|thumb|Andersen's childhood home in Odense]]

Andersen was born in [[Odense]], Denmark, on 2 April 1805. He had a half sister named Karen.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://andersen.sdu.dk/liv/biografi/familie_e.html|website=SDU Hans Christian Andersen Centret|title=Life|access-date=10 June 2021|archive-date=1 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220901180649/https://andersen.sdu.dk/liv/biografi/familie_e.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Andersen's father, also named Hans, considered himself related to nobility (his paternal grandmother had told his father that their family had belonged to a higher social class,<ref name="Rossel 1996 6">{{harvnb|Rossel|1996|p=6}}</ref> but investigations have disproved these stories).<ref name="Rossel 1996 6"/><ref>{{cite web |last=Askgaard |first=Ejnar Stig |title=The Lineage of Hans Christian Andersen |publisher=Odense City Museums |url=http://museum.odense.dk/knowledge/knowledge-hans-christian-andersen/publications-on-hca-/the-lineage-of-hca.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504132508/http://www.museum.odense.dk/knowledge/knowledge-hans-christian-andersen/publications-on-hca-/the-lineage-of-hca.aspx |archive-date=4 May 2012}}</ref> Although it has been challenged,<ref name="Rossel 1996 6"/> speculation suggests that Andersen was an illegitimate son of King [[Christian VIII of Denmark|Christian VIII]]. Danish historian Jens Jørgensen supported this idea in his book ''H.C. Andersen, en sand myte'' [a true myth].<ref>{{Harvnb|Jørgensen|1987}}</ref>

Andersen was [[Baptism|baptised]] on 15 April 1805 in [[Saint Hans Church]] in Odense. According to his [[birth certificate]], which was not drafted until November 1823, six godparents were present at the baptism ceremony: Madam Sille Marie Breineberg, Maiden Friederiche Pommer, shoemaker Peder Waltersdorff, journeyman carpenter Anders Jørgensen, hospital porter Nicolas Gomard, and royal hatter Jens Henrichsen Dorch.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Andersen's father, who had received an elementary school education, introduced his son to literature, reading him ''[[One Thousand and One Nights|Arabian Nights]]''.<ref name=Rossel>{{harvnb|Rossel|1996|p=7}}</ref> Andersen's mother, Anne Marie Andersdatter, was an illiterate washerwoman. Following her husband's death in 1816, she remarried in 1818.<ref name=Rossel /> Andersen was sent to a local school for poor children where he received a basic education and had to support himself, working as an [[Apprenticeship|apprentice]] to a weaver and, later, to a tailor. At 14, Andersen moved to [[Copenhagen]] to seek employment as an actor. Having a good [[boy soprano|soprano]] voice, he was accepted into the [[Royal Danish Theatre]], but his voice soon changed. A colleague at the theatre told Andersen that he considered Andersen a poet, and taking the suggestion seriously, Andersen began to focus on writing.

[[Jonas Collin]], director of the Royal Danish Theatre, held great affection for Andersen and sent him to a grammar school in [[Slagelse]], persuading [[Frederick VI of Denmark|King Frederick VI]] to pay part of Andersen's education.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hans Christian Andersen – Childhood and Education |url=https://www.danishnet.com/culture/hans-christian-andersen/ |access-date=17 November 2023 |website=Danishnet.com |archive-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308014647/https://www.danishnet.com/culture/hans-christian-andersen/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Andersen had by then published his first story, "The Ghost at Palnatoke's Grave" (1822). Though not a stellar pupil, Andersen also attended school at [[Helsingør|Elsinore]] until 1827.<ref>{{cite web |title=H.C. Andersens skolegang i Helsingør Latinskole |url=http://www.hcandersen-homepage.dk/?page_id=3257 |access-date=2 April 2010 |website=H.C. Andersen Information |language=da |archive-date=16 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216044703/https://www.hcandersen-homepage.dk/?page_id=3257 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Andersen later said that his years at this school were the darkest and most bitter years of his life. At one school, Andersen lived at his schoolmaster's home. There, Andersen was abused and was told that it was done in order "to improve his character." Andersen later said that the faculty had discouraged him from writing, which resulted in a depression.{{sfn|Wullschläger|2000|p=56}}

==Career==

===Early work===
{{Quote box |align=right| width=30em |quote=It doesn't matter about being born in a duckyard, as long as you are hatched from a swan's egg.|source="[[The Ugly Duckling]]"}}

A very early fairy tale by Andersen, "[[The Tallow Candle]]" ({{langx|da|Tællelyset}}), was discovered in a Danish archive in October 2012. The story, written in the 1820s, is about a candle that does not feel appreciated. It was written while Andersen was still in school and dedicated to one of his benefactors. The story remained in that family's possession until it was found among other family papers in a local archive.<ref>{{cite web |last=Stockmann |first=Camilla |date=12 December 2012 |title=Local historian finds Hans Christian Andersen's first fairy tale |url=https://politiken.dk/newsinenglish_/art5435657/Local-historian-finds-Hans-Christian-Andersenrsquos-first-fairy-tale |access-date=17 November 2023 |website=Politiken.dk |archive-date=18 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118232142/https://politiken.dk/newsinenglish_/art5435657/Local-historian-finds-Hans-Christian-Andersenrsquos-first-fairy-tale |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1829, Andersen enjoyed considerable success with the short story "A Journey on Foot from [[Holmen, Copenhagen|Holmen]]'s Canal to the East Point of [[Amager]]." Its protagonist meets characters ranging from [[Saint Peter]] to a talking cat. Andersen followed this success with a theatrical piece, ''Love on St. Nicholas Church Tower'', and a short volume of poems. He made little progress in writing and publishing immediately following these poems, but did receive a small travel grant from the king in 1833. This enabled Andersen to set out on the first of many journeys throughout Europe. At [[Canton of Jura|Jura]], near [[Le Locle]], Switzerland, Andersen wrote the story "Agnete and the Merman." The same year, he spent an evening in the Italian seaside village of [[Sestri Levante]], which inspired the title of "The Bay of Fables."<ref>{{cite web |title=Premio e Festival Andersen di Sestri Levante |url=https://andersensestri.it/ |url-status= |access-date=17 November 2023 |website=Andersen Premio e Festival |language=it}}</ref> Andersen arrived in [[Rome]] in October 1834. His travels in Italy were reflected in his first novel, a fictionalized autobiography titled ''[[The Improvisatore]]'' ({{lang|da|Improvisatoren}}), published in 1835 to instant acclaim.<ref name="Murray2013">{{cite book|first=Christopher John |last=Murray|title=Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760–1850|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8GS8DWMLRYEC&pg=PA20|year=2013|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-135-45579-8|page=20}}</ref><ref name="Sjåvik2006">{{cite book|first=Jan |last=Sjåvik|title=Historical Dictionary of Scandinavian Literature and Theater|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tCBpiKsi7a0C&pg=RA1-PA8|year=2006|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-6501-3|page=20}}</ref>

===Literary fairy tales===
[[File:Hans Christian Andersen - The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep - silhouette.jpg|upright=.8|left|thumb|A paper chimney sweep [[Scherenschnitte|cut]] by Andersen]]

''[[Fairy Tales Told for Children. First Collection]]'' ([[Danish language|Danish]]: ''Eventyr, fortalt for Børn. Første Samling.'') is a collection of nine [[fairy tale]]s by Andersen. The tales were published in a series of three installments by C. A. Reitzel in [[Copenhagen]] between May 1835 and April 1837. They were Andersen's first venture into the fairy tale genre.

The first installment was a volume of sixty-one unbound pages published 8 May 1835 containing "[[The Tinderbox]]", "[[Little Claus and Big Claus]]", "[[The Princess and the Pea]]" and "Little Ida's Flowers". The first three tales were based on folktales Andersen had heard in his childhood. The fourth was Andersen's creation for Ida Thiele, the daughter of folklorist [[Just Mathias Thiele]], Andersen's early benefactor. Reitzel paid Andersen thirty [[Danish rigsdaler|rigsdalers]] for the manuscript, and the booklet was priced at 24 shillings.<ref name="WullschlagerP150">{{Harvnb|Wullschläger|2000|p=150}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Frank|Frank|2004|p=13}}</ref>

The second booklet was published on 16 December 1835 and contained "The Naughty Boy", and "The Traveling Companion", and "[[Thumbelina]]." The lattermost was inspired by "[[Tom Thumb]]" and other stories of miniature people. "The Naughty Boy" was based on a poem about [[Eros]] from the ''[[Anacreontea]]'', and "The Traveling Companion" was a ghost story Andersen had experimented with in the year 1830.<ref name="WullschlagerP150" />

[[File:C.A. Jensen 1836 - HC Andersen.jpg|upright=.8|thumb|Andersen in 1836]]

The third booklet contained "[[The Little Mermaid]]" and "[[The Emperor's New Clothes]]", and it was published on 7 April 1837. The former was influenced by [[Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué]]'s [[Undine (novella)|''Undine'']] (1811) and legends about [[mermaid]]s. This tale established Andersen's international reputation.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wullschläger|2000|p=174}}</ref> The only other tale in the third booklet was "The Emperor's New Clothes", which was based on a [[Medieval Spanish literature|medieval Spanish]] story with [[Arab culture|Arab]] and [[Jewish culture|Jewish]] origins. On the eve of the third installment's publication, Andersen revised the conclusion (in which the Emperor simply walks in procession) to its now-famous finale of a child calling out, "The Emperor is not wearing any clothes!"<ref>{{Harvnb|Wullschläger|2000|p=176}}</ref>

Danish reviews of the first two booklets first appeared in 1836 and were not enthusiastic. The critics disliked the chatty, informal style and apparent immorality, since children's literature was meant to educate rather than to amuse. The critics discouraged Andersen from pursuing this type of style. Andersen believed that he was working against the critics' preconceived notions about fairy tales, and he temporarily returned to novel-writing, waiting a full year before publishing his third installment.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wullschläger|2000|pp=150,165}}</ref>

The nine tales from the three booklets were published in one volume and sold for seventy-two shillings. A title page, a table of contents, and a [[preface]] by Andersen were published in this volume.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wullschläger|2000|p=178}}</ref>

In 1868, [[Horace Scudder]], the editor of ''[[Riverside Magazine For Young People]]'', offered Andersen $500 for 12 new stories. Sixteen of Andersen's stories were published in the magazine, and 10 of them appeared there before they were printed in Denmark.<ref>Rossel, Sven Hakon, ''Hans Christian Anderson, Writer and Citizen of the World'', Rodopi, 1996</ref>

===Travelogues===
[[File:Hans Christian Andersen 2.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait of Andersen by [[Franz Hanfstaengl]], dated July 1860]]

In 1851, Andersen published ''In Sweden'', a volume of travel sketches. The publication received wide acclaim. A keen traveler, he published several other long [[travel literature|travelogues]]: ''Shadow Pictures of a Journey to the Harz, Swiss Saxony, etc. etc. in the Summer of 1831'', ''A Poet's Bazaar'', ''In Spain'', and ''A Visit to Portugal in 1866''. (The last one describes his visit with his Portuguese friends Jorge and José O'Neill, whom Andersen knew in the mid-1820s while he was living in Copenhagen.) In his travelogues, Andersen used contemporary conventions related to travel writing but developed the style to make it his own. Each of Andersen's travelogues combines documentary and descriptive accounts of his experiences, adding additional philosophical passages on topics such as authorship, immortality, and fiction in literary travel reports. Some of the travelogues, such as ''In Sweden'', contain fairy tales.

In the 1840s, Andersen's attention returned to the theatre stage, but with little success. He had better luck with the publication of the ''Picture-Book without Pictures'' (1840). Andersen started a second series of fairy tales in 1838 and a third series in 1845. At this point, he was celebrated throughout Europe, although Andersen's native Denmark still showed some resistance to his pretensions.

Between 1845 and 1864, Andersen lived at [[Nyhavn 67]], Copenhagen, where a memorial plaque is now placed.<ref name="Official Tourism Site of Copenhagen">{{cite web |title=In the footsteps of Andersen |url=http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/content/press/press_information/hans_christian_andersen/in_the_footsteps_of_andersen |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725103354/http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/content/press/press_information/hans_christian_andersen/in_the_footsteps_of_andersen |archive-date=25 July 2008 |access-date=2 April 2010 |website=Visitcopenhagen.com }}</ref>

Patrons of Andersen's writings included the [[monarchy of Denmark]], the [[House of Glücksburg#Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg|House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg]]. An unexpected invitation from [[Christian IX of Denmark|King Christian IX]] to the royal palace entrenched Andersen's folklore in Danish royalty as well as making its way to the Romanov dynasty when Christian IX's daughter [[Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)|Maria Feodorovna]] married [[Alexander III of Russia]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Кудряшов |first=Константин |date=25 November 2017 |title=Дагмар – принцесса на русской горошине. Как Андерсен вошёл у нас в моду |url=https://aif.ru/society/history/dagmar_princessa_na_russkoy_goroshine_kak_andersen_voshyol_u_nas_v_modu |access-date=20 December 2020 |website=aif.ru |language=ru}}</ref>

==Personal life==
===Meetings with Charles Dickens===
[[File:Hans Christian Andersen statue in Kongens Have - Copenhagen - DSC07861.JPG|thumb|upright|Andersen statue at the [[Rosenborg Castle Gardens]], Copenhagen]]

In June 1847, Andersen visited England for the first time, enjoying triumphant social success. The [[Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington|Countess of Blessington]] invited him to her parties where many intellectuals would meet, and at one such party he met [[Charles Dickens]] for the first time. They shook hands and walked to the veranda, which Andersen noted in his diary: "We were on the veranda, and I was so happy to see and speak to England's now-living writer whom I do love the most."<ref name="dickens">{{cite web |date=31 March 2012 |title=H.C. Andersen og Charles Dickens 1857 |url=https://www.hcandersen-homepage.dk/?page_id=3683 |access-date=17 November 2023 |publisher=H.C. Andersen Information}}</ref> The two authors respected each other's work and each other as writers, and had in common their depictions of the [[underclass]], who often led difficult lives affected both by the [[Industrial Revolution]] and by abject poverty.{{fact|date=September 2025}}

In 1857, Andersen visited England again, primarily to meet Dickens. Andersen extended the planned brief visit to Dickens' home at [[Gads Hill Place]] into a five-week stay, much to the distress of Dickens' family. After Andersen was told to leave, Dickens gradually stopped all correspondence between them, to Andersen's great disappointment and confusion; he had enjoyed the visit and never understood why his letters went unanswered.<ref name="dickens"/> It has been argued that Dickens modelled the physical appearance and mannerisms of [[Uriah Heep (David Copperfield)|Uriah Heep]] from ''[[David Copperfield]]'' after Andersen.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Alexander |first=Doris |url=http://archive.org/details/creatingcharacte0000alex |title=Creating characters with Charles Dickens |date=1991 |publisher=[[Pennsylvania State University Press]] |isbn=978-0-271-00725-0 |location=University Park |pages=78–81}}</ref>

===Romantic relationships===
In Andersen's early life, his private journal records his [[Celibacy|refusal to have sexual relations]].<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |last=Lepage |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Lepage |date=18 January 2006 |title=Bedtime stories |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/jan/18/theatre.classics |access-date=19 July 2006 |archive-date=29 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529014005/http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/classics/story/0,6000,1689053,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Garfield">{{cite web<!--|EXISTING REFERENCE--> |last=Garfield |first=Patricia |date=21 June 2004 |title=The Dreams of Hans Christian Andersen |url=http://www.patriciagarfield.com/publications/anderson_2004IASD.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321031708/http://www.patriciagarfield.com/publications/anderson_2004IASD.pdf |archive-date=21 March 2012 |access-date=19 August 2020 |page=24}}</ref>

Andersen experienced [[Homosexuality|homosexual attraction]];<ref name=":0">{{Cite book | last=Booth| first=Michael| title=Just As Well I'm Leaving: To the Orient With Hans Christian Andersen| publisher=Vintage| year=2005| isbn=978-1-44648-579-8| location=London| pages=Pos. 2226| language=English}}</ref> he wrote to Edvard Collin:<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i3pWfVwhPUIC |title=Hans Christian Andersen's Correspondence with the Late Grand-Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Charles Dickens, Etc., Etc |date=1891 |publisher=[[Dean & Son]] |editor-last=Crawford |editor-first=Frederick}}</ref> "I languish for you as for a pretty [[Calabria]]n wench ... my sentiments for you are those of a woman. The femininity of my nature and our friendship must remain a mystery."<ref>{{Citation |last=Hurley |first=Nat |title=The Little Transgender Mermaid: A Shape-Shifting Tale |date=2014 |url=https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137356000_14 |work=Seriality and Texts for Young People |pages=270 |editor-last=Reimer |editor-first=Mavis |access-date=18 November 2023 |series=Critical Approaches to Children's Literature |place=London |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|doi=10.1057/9781137356000_14 |isbn=978-1-137-35600-0 |editor2-last=Ali |editor2-first=Nyala |editor3-last=England |editor3-first=Deanna |editor4-last=Unrau |editor4-first=Melanie Dennis|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Collin wrote in his own memoir, "I found myself unable to respond to this love, and this caused the author much suffering." Andersen's infatuation with [[Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach|Karl Alexander]], the young hereditary duke of [[Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]],<ref name="eiruaghklfsdivwelafassss xewdgAlexander">{{cite news |last=Pritchard |first=Claudia |date=27 March 2005 |title=His dark materials |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/his-dark-materials-8437.html |url-status=live |access-date=18 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070314153313/http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/books/features/article8437.ece |archive-date=14 March 2007}}</ref> did result in a relationship:

<blockquote>The Hereditary Grand Duke walked arm in arm with me across the courtyard of the castle to my room, kissed me lovingly, asked me always to love him though he was just an ordinary person, asked me to stay with him this winter ... Fell asleep with the melancholy, happy feeling that I was the guest of this strange prince at his castle and loved by him ... It is like a fairy tale.<ref name=":0" /> </blockquote>

There is a sharp division in opinion over Andersen's physical fulfillment in the sexual sphere. {{ill|Jackie Wullschlager|de|Jackie Wullschlager}}'s biography maintains he was possibly lovers with Danish dancer {{ill|Harald Scharff|da}}<ref name="Scharff">{{cite web |title=The Timetable Year by Year |url=https://andersen.sdu.dk/liv/tidstavle/vis_e.html?date=1862-00-00 |access-date=22 July 2006 |publisher=H.C. Andersen Centret}}</ref> and Andersen's "[[The Snowman (fairy tale)|The Snowman]]" was inspired by their relationship.<ref name="WullschlagerPP373,3792">{{Harvnb|Wullschläger|2000|pp=373,379}}</ref> Scharff first met Andersen when the latter was in his 50s. Andersen was infatuated and Wullschlager sees his journals as implying that their relationship was sexual.<ref>{{cite news |date=1 November 2001 |title=Hans Christian Andersen: The Life of a Storyteller |publisher=Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-7326345_ITM |url-status=dead |access-date=10 June 2009 |archive-date=2 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190902204559/https://www.nelsonbrain.com/shop }}</ref> Scharff had various dinners alone with Andersen and gifted a silver toothbrush to Andersen on his 57th birthday.<ref>{{cite news |date=26 April 2005 |title=Andersen's Fairy Tales |publisher=The Advocate |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-29288855_ITM |url-status=dead |access-date=10 June 2009 |archive-date=2 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190902204559/https://www.nelsonbrain.com/shop }}</ref> Wullschlager asserts that in the winter of 1861–62, the two men entered an affair that brought Andersen "joy, some kind of sexual fulfillment, and a temporary end to loneliness."<ref name="Wullschlager3">{{Harvnb|Wullschläger|2000|pp=387–389}}</ref> He was not discreet in his conduct with Scharff, and displayed his feelings openly. Onlookers regarded the relationship as improper and ridiculous. In his diary in March 1862, Andersen referred to this time in his life as his "erotic period."<ref name="AndersenJ3">{{Harvnb|Andersen|2005|pp=475–476}}</ref> On 13 November 1863, Andersen wrote, "Scharff has not visited me in eight days; with him it is over."<ref name="AndersenJP477">{{Harvnb|Andersen|2005|p=477}}</ref> He took this calmly and the two thereafter met in overlapping social circles without bitterness, though Andersen attempted to rekindle their relationship many times without success.<ref name="WullschlagerP392–393">{{Harvnb|Wullschläger|2000|pp=392–393}}</ref><ref group="note">While on holiday, for example, Andersen and Scharff were forced to spend the night in Helsingør. Andersen reserved a double room for them both but Scharff insisted upon having his own.</ref><ref group="note">Andersen continued to follow Scharff's career with interest, but in 1871, an injury during rehearsal forced Scharff permanently from the ballet stage. Scharff tried acting without success, married a ballerina in 1874, and died in the St. Hans asylum in 1912.</ref><ref name="AndersenJPP477-479">{{Harvnb|Andersen|2005|pp=477–479}}</ref> According to Wullschlager, "Andersen's diaries leave no doubt that he was attracted to both sexes; that at times he longed for a physical relationship with a woman and that at other times he was involved in physical liaisons with men."<ref name="Wullschläger 2000" /> For example, Wullschlager quotes from Andersen's diaries:

<blockquote>"Scharff bounded up to me; threw himself round my neck and kissed me! .... Nervous in the evening" Five days later he received "a visit from Scharff, who was very intimate and nice". In the following weeks, there was "dinner at Scharff's, who was ardent and loving"<ref name="Wullschläger 2000" /></blockquote>

The claim that Andersen entertained "physical liaisons" with men has been contested by Klara Bom and Anya Aarenstrup from the H. C. Andersen Centre of [[University of Southern Denmark]]. They state:

<blockquote>it is correct to point to the very ambivalent (and also very traumatic) elements in Andersen's emotional life concerning the sexual sphere, but it is decidedly just as wrong to describe him as homosexual and maintain that he had physical relationships with men. He did not. Indeed, that would have been entirely contrary to his moral and religious ideas, aspects that are quite outside the field of vision of Wullschlager and her like.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Bom |first1=Anne Klara |last2=Aarenstrup |first2=Anya |title=Homosexuality |url=https://andersen.sdu.dk/rundtom/faq/index_e.html?emne=homo |access-date=18 November 2023 |website=H.C. Andersen Centret}}</ref></blockquote>

Wullschlager, in fact, argued that, ''because'' of moral and religious ideas of his time, Andersen could not be open about his homosexual relationships.{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}}

Andersen also fell in love with unattainable women, and many interpret references to them in his stories.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hastings |first=Waller |date=4 April 2003 |title=Hans Christian Andersen |url=http://www.northern.edu/hastingw/hcandersen.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071123053333/http://www.northern.edu/hastingw/hcandersen.htm |archive-date=23 November 2007 |access-date=15 December 2012 |website=[[Northern State University]] }}</ref> At one point, Andersen wrote in his diary: "Almighty God, thee only have I; thou steerest my fate, I must give myself up to thee! Give me a livelihood! Give me a bride! My blood wants love, as my heart does!"<ref>{{cite web |last=Sørensen |first=Lise |title=The Tales of Hans Christian Andersen |url=http://scandinavian.wisc.edu/mellor/hca_summer/glossary/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312093003/http://scandinavian.wisc.edu/mellor/hca_summer/glossary/bachelor.html |archive-date=12 March 2012 |access-date=2 April 2010 |publisher=Scandinavian.wisc.edu}}</ref> A girl named Riborg Voigt was the [[unrequited love]] of Andersen's youth. A small pouch containing a long letter from Voigt was found on Andersen's chest when he died, several decades after Andersen first fell in love with her. Other disappointments in love included Sophie Ørsted,{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} the daughter of the physicist [[Hans Christian Ørsted]]; and Louise Collin,{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} the youngest daughter of his benefactor Jonas Collin. One of Andersen's stories, "[[The Nightingale (fairy tale)|The Nightingale]]", was written as an expression of his passion for [[Jenny Lind]] and was the inspiration for her nickname, the "Swedish Nightingale."<ref>{{cite web |last=Oldrup |first=Thomas |date=2 July 2014 |title=H.C. Andersen og Jenny Lind |url=http://altomhistorie.dk/artikler/h-c-andersen-og-jenny-lind/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825213227/http://altomhistorie.dk/artikler/h-c-andersen-og-jenny-lind/ |archive-date=25 August 2016 |website=Altomhistorie.dk}}</ref> Andersen was shy around women and had extreme difficulty proposing to Lind. When Lind was boarding a train to go to an opera concert, Andersen gave Lind a letter of proposal. Her feelings towards him were not the same; she saw Andersen as a brother, writing to him in 1844: "farewell ... God bless and protect my brother is the sincere wish of his affectionate sister, Jenny."<ref>{{cite web |title=Sangerinden Jenny Lind 1820 – 1867 |url=https://www.hcandersen-homepage.dk/?page_id=22484 |access-date=2 April 2010 |website=H.C. Andersen Information |archive-date=5 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105222927/https://www.hcandersen-homepage.dk/?page_id=22484 |url-status=live }}</ref> It is suggested that Andersen expressed his disappointment by portraying Lind as the eponymous [[antihero]] of "[[The Snow Queen]]."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Connelly |first=Charlie |date=27 October 2021 |title=Jenny Lind: The very modern career of a 19th century superstar |url=https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/great-european-lives-jenny-lind/ |access-date=18 November 2023 |website=[[The New European]]}}</ref>

==Death==
[[File:Melchior Family Group Rolighed c. 1867.jpg|thumb|upright|Andersen at Rolighed: Israel Melchior (c. 1867)]]

In early 1872, at the age of 67, Andersen fell out of his bed and was severely hurt; Andersen never fully recovered from the resultant injuries. Soon afterward, he started to show signs of [[liver cancer]].<ref name="Bryant">{{Cite book |last=Bryant |first=Mark |url=http://archive.org/details/privatelivescuri0000brya |title=Private lives : curious facts about the famous and infamous |publisher=[[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell]] |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-304-34923-4 |location=London |pages=3}}</ref>

Andersen died on 4 August 1875 at the age of 70 in a country house called ''[[Rolighed (Østerbro)|Rolighed]]'' (literally: calmness) near Copenhagen, the home of his close friends, the banker [[Moritz G. Melchior]] and his wife.<ref name="Bryant"/> Shortly before his death, Andersen consulted a composer about the music for his funeral, saying: "Most of the people who will walk after me will be children, so make the beat keep time with little steps."<ref name="Bryant"/>

Andersen's body was interred in the [[Assistens Cemetery (Copenhagen)|Assistens Kirkegård]] in the [[Nørrebro]] area of [[Copenhagen]], in the Collin family plot. In 1914, the headstone was moved to another cemetery (today known as ''"''Frederiksbergs ældre kirkegaard"), where younger Collin family members were buried. For a period, his, Edvard Collin's, and Henriette Collin's graves were unmarked. A second stone has been erected, marking Andersen's grave, now without any mention of the Collin couple, but all three still share the same plot.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historien om H.C. Andersens gravsted på Assistens Kirkegård i København |url=https://www.hcandersen-homepage.dk/?page_id=6226 |access-date=18 November 2023 |website=H.C. Andersen Information | date=13 April 2012 |language=da-DK}}</ref>

At the time of his death, Andersen was internationally revered, and the Danish government paid him an annual [[stipend]] for being a "national treasure."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 April 2014 |title=Hans Christian Andersen |url=https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/hans-christian-andersen |access-date=18 November 2023 |website=Biography |publisher=[[A&E Networks]]}}</ref>

==Legacy==

===Archives, collections and museums===
* The [[Hans Christian Andersen Museum]] or H.C. Andersens Hus, is a set of museums/buildings dedicated to Hans Christian Andersen in Odense, Denmark, some of which, at various times in history, have functioned as the main Odense-based museum for the author.
* The [[Solvang, California#Museums|Hans Christian Andersen Museum]] in Solvang, California, a city founded by Danes, is devoted to presenting the author's life and works. Displays include models of Andersen's childhood home and of "[[The Princess and the Pea]]". The museum also contains hundreds of volumes of Andersen's works, including many illustrated first editions and correspondence with Danish composer [[Asger Hamerik]].<ref>{{cite web |title=HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN MUSEUM |url=http://www.solvangca.com/museum/h1.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129150511/http://solvangca.com/museum/h1.htm |archive-date=29 November 2010 |access-date=18 November 2023 |website=SolvangCA.com}}</ref>
* The [[Library of Congress]] Rare Book and Special Collections Division was bequeathed an extensive collection of Andersen materials by the Danish-American actor [[Jean Hersholt]].<ref>{{cite web |date=15 April 2009 |title=Jean Hersholt Collections |url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/rarebook/coll/114.html |access-date=2 April 2010 |website=Library of Congress }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=15 April 2009 |title=Billedbog til Jonas Drewsen |url=https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=rbc3&fileName=rbc0001_2008gen51371page.db |access-date=18 November 2023 |website=American Memory: Remaining Collections |archive-date=18 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118232145/https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=rbc3&fileName=rbc0001_2008gen51371page.db |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Arts and entertainment===
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====Film and television====
* ''La petite marchande d'allumettes'' (1928; in English: ''The Little Match Girl''), film by [[Jean Renoir]], based on "The Little Match Girl".
* ''[[The Ugly Duckling (1931 film)|The Ugly Duckling]]'' (1931) and [[The Ugly Duckling (1939 film)|its 1939 remake of the same name]], two animated ''[[Silly Symphony|Silly Symphonies]]'' cartoon shorts produced by [[Walt Disney Animation Studios|Walt Disney Productions]], based on ''[[The Ugly Duckling]]''.
* Andersen was played by [[Joachim Gottschalk]] in the German film ''[[The Swedish Nightingale (film)|The Swedish Nightingale]]'' (1941), which portrays his relationship with the singer [[Jenny Lind]].
* ''[[The Red Shoes (1948 film)|The Red Shoes]]'' (1948), British drama film written, directed, and produced by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, based on "[[The Red Shoes (fairy tale)|The Red Shoes]]".
* ''[[Hans Christian Andersen (film)|Hans Christian Andersen]]'' (1952), an American musical film starring [[Danny Kaye]] that, though inspired by Andersen's life and literary legacy, was not meant to be historically nor biographically accurate; it begins by saying, "This is not the story of his life, but a fairy tale about this great spinner of fairy tales."
* "The Second Day of Christmas", 26 December 1955 episode of ''[[Robert Montgomery Presents]]'', Danish-born writer Sandra Michael's dramatization of Andersen's relationship with Jenny Lind, starring [[Lois Smith]] and [[Frank Schofield (actor)|Frank Schofield]]<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/image/458870930/?clipping_id=148732143 "Today's Tops in TV"]. ''The San Francisco Examiner''. 26 December 1955. p.&nbsp;23. Retrieved 5 June 2024. See also:
* [https://archive.org/details/tvguide-chicago-1955-12-24/page/n47/mode/2up?q=%22second+day+of+christmas%22+%22frank+Schofield%22 "Monday Evening, December 26"]. ''TV Guide''. 24 December 1955. p.&nbsp;A-37.
* Barnow, Eric; ed. (1945). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=zwOH64apmQIC&pg=PA346&dq=Denmark+%22Sandra+Michael%22 Radio Drama in Action: Twenty-five Plays of a Changing World]''. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, Inc. p.&nbsp;346. {{OCLC|1371095}}.</ref>
* ''[[The Snow Queen (1957 film)|The Snow Queen]]'' (1957), a Soviet animated film based on ''[[The Snow Queen]]'', by [[Lev Atamanov|Lev Atmanov]] of [[Soyuzmultfilm]], a faithful depiction of the fairy tale that garnered critical acclaim.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crowther |first=Bosley |date=14 April 1960 |title=Screen: Disney ala Soviet: The Snow Queen' at Neighborhood Houses|work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/04/14/archives/screen-disney-ala-soviet-the-snow-queen-at-neighborhood-houses.html |access-date=22 November 2020 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Weiler |first=A. H. |date=7 June 1959 |title=BY WAY OF REPORT; Soviet 'Snow Queen,' Other Animated Features Due – 'Snowman's' Story|work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/06/07/archives/by-way-of-report-soviet-snow-queen-other-animated-features-due-snow.html |access-date=22 November 2020 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
* ''[[The Emperor's New Clothes (1961 film)|The Emperor's New Clothes]]'' (''Carevo novo ruho''), a 1961 Croatian film, directed by [[Ante Babaja]].
* ''[[The Wild Swans (1962 film)|The Wild Swans]]'' (1962), Soviet animated adaptation of ''[[The Wild Swans]]'', by Soyuzmultfilm.
* The [[Rankin/Bass Productions]]-produced fantasy film, ''[[The Daydreamer (film)|The Daydreamer]]'' (1966), depicts the young Hans Christian Andersen conceiving the stories he would later write.
* ''[[The Little Mermaid (1968 film)|The Little Mermaid]]'' (1968) 30-minute faithful Soviet animated adaptation of ''[[The Little Mermaid]]'' by Soyuzmultfilm.
* ''[[The World of Hans Christian Andersen]]'' (1968), a Japanese anime fantasy film from [[Toei Doga]], based on the works of Hans Christian Andersen.
* ''[[Andersen Monogatari (TV series)|Andersen Monogatari]]'' (1971), a Japanese animated anthology series produced by [[Mushi Production]].
* The Pine Tree (c. 1974), 23 minute film in colour, commentary by [[Liz Lochhead]].<ref>{{cite web |title=PINE TREE, the |url=https://movingimage.nls.uk/film/6901 |website=Moving Image Archive |publisher=National Library of Scotland}}</ref>
* ''[[Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid (1975 film)|Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid]]'' (1975) Japanese anime film from Toei, faithfully based on ''[[The Little Mermaid]].''
* ''[[The Little Mermaid (1976 Czech film)|The Little Mermaid]]'' (1976) Czech fantasy film based on ''[[The Little Mermaid]].''
* ''[[The Wild Swans (1977 film)|The Wild Swans]]'' (1977), Japanese animated adaptation of ''[[The Wild Swans]]'' by Toei.
* ''[[Thumbelina (1978 film)|Thumbelina]]'' (1978), Japanese anime film from Toei based on ''[[Thumbelina]].''
* ''[[Faerie Tale Theatre]]'' (1982–1987), an American television series, featured several Andersen stories; "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Nightingale", "The Snow Queen" and "Thumbelina" were collected and released on DVD as ''Faerie Tale Theatre: Tales From Hans Christian Andersen'' (2009).
* In 1986, [[Kievnauchfilm]] produced [[:ru:История о девочке, наступившей на хлеб|an animated adaptation]] of ''The Girl who Trod on the Loaf''. It was released in both Russian and Ukrainian, both voiced by the same actors.
* ''[[The Little Mermaid (1989 film)|The Little Mermaid]]'' (1989), an animated film based on ''[[The Little Mermaid]]'', created and produced at [[Walt Disney Feature Animation]] in [[Burbank, California]].
* ''[[Thumbelina (1994 film)|Thumbelina]]'' (1994), an animated film based on "[[Thumbelina]]", created and produced by [[Sullivan Bluth Studios]], Dublin, Ireland
* One segment in ''[[Fantasia 2000]]'' is based on "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", alongside [[Dmitri Shostakovich|Shostakovich]]'s Piano Concerto No. 2, Movement 1: "Allegro".
* ''[[Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairytale]]'' (2003), a British made-for-television film directed by [[Philip Saville]], a fictionalized account of Andersen's early successes, with his fairy stories intertwined with events in his own life.<ref>{{cite news |last=Moore |first=Frazier |date=6 September 2002 |title=Upcoming TV schedules focus on events of 9/11 |page=13 |newspaper=[[Chillicothe Gazette]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chillicothe-gazette-hca-premiere/104156306/}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Greenhill |first=Pauline |date=2015 |title='The Snow Queen': Queer Coding in Male Directors' Films |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1663315597/ |magazine=Marvels & Tales |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=110–134 |issn=1521-4281 }}</ref>
* ''[[The Fairytaler]]'' (2003), Danish-British animated series based on several Andersen fairy tales.
* ''[[The Little Matchgirl (2006 film)|The Little Matchgirl]]'' (2006), an animated short film by the [[Walt Disney Animation Studios]] directed by [[Roger Allers]] and produced by [[Don Hahn]].
* ''[[The Snow Queen (2012 film)|The Snow Queen]]'' (2012), a Russian 3D animated film based on ''[[The Snow Queen]]'', the first film of ''The Snow Queen'' series produced by [[Wizart Animation]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Milligan |first=Mercedes |date=2 June 2012 |title=Russian Animation on Ice |url=https://www.animationmagazine.net/2012/06/russian-animation-on-ice/ |access-date=22 November 2020 |website=Animation Magazine |archive-date=18 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118232142/https://www.animationmagazine.net/2012/06/russian-animation-on-ice/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ''[[Frozen (2013 film)|Frozen]]'' (2013), a 3D computer-animated musical film produced by [[Walt Disney Animation Studios]] that is loosely inspired by ''[[The Snow Queen]]''.
* ''[[Ginger's Tale]]'' (2020), a Russian 2D animated film loosely based on ''[[The Tinderbox]]'', produced at Vverh Animation Studio in Moscow.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Abate |first=Antonio Maria |date=22 June 2020 |title=Annecy 2020, Ginger's Tale, recensione, un principe da salvare |language=it-IT |work=Cineblog |url=https://www.cineblog.it/post/annecy-2020-gingers-tale-recensione-un-principe-da-salvare |access-date=22 November 2020}}</ref>
* ''[[The Little Mermaid (2023 film)|The Little Mermaid]]'' (2023), a live-action film based on ''[[The Little Mermaid]]'', created and produced by [[Walt Disney Pictures]].

====Literature====
Andersen's stories laid the groundwork for other children's classics, such as ''[[The Wind in the Willows]]'' (1908) by [[Kenneth Grahame]] and ''[[Winnie-the-Pooh]]'' (1926) by [[A. A. Milne]]. The trope of inanimate objects, such as toys, coming to life (as in "Little Ida's Flowers") would later also be used by [[Lewis Carroll]] and [[Beatrix Potter]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sherry |first=Clifford J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0SlU_9Pui_oC&q=wiki&pg=PA17 |title=Animal Rights: A Reference Handbook |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-59884-191-6 |edition=Illustrated reprint}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=23 November 2018 |title=Ledger Legends: J. M. Barrie, Beatrix Potter and Lewis Carroll |url=https://home.barclays/news/2018/11/ledger-legends--j-m-barrie--beatrix-potter-and-lewis-carroll/ |access-date=30 May 2020 |website=[[Barclays]]}}</ref>

====Music====
* [[Hans Christian Andersen (album)|''Hans Christian Andersen'' (album)]], a 1994 album by [[Franciscus Henri]].
* ''The Song is a Fairytale'' (''Sangen er et Eventyr''), a [[song cycle]] based on fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, composed by [[Frederik Magle]].
* "Atonal Fairy Tale",<ref>{{Citation |last=Smart Dad Living |title=It Is What It Isn't, Too! |date=22 August 2020 |url=https://open.spotify.com/album/3bzaiZzloO33CQRgzL7sTT |access-date=18 November 2023 |archive-date=9 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209163452/https://open.spotify.com/album/3bzaiZzloO33CQRgzL7sTT |url-status=live }}</ref> track with music composed by Gregory Reid Davis Jr. and Smart Dad Living reading the fairy tale "The Elfin Mound" by Hans Christian Andersen.

====Stage productions====
For opera and ballet see [[List of The Little Mermaid adaptations|List of The Little Mermaid Adaptations]]
* ''[[Little Hans Andersen]]'' (1903), a children's [[pantomime]] at the [[Adelphi Theatre]].
* ''[[The Nightingale (opera)|The Nightingale]]'' (1914), an opera by [[Igor Stravinsky]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=H. Colin Slim Stravinsky Collection |url=http://archive.org/details/annotatedcatalog0000hcol |title=Annotated catalogue of the H. Colin Slim Stravinsky collection : donated by him to the University of British Columbia Library |publisher=University of British Columbia Library |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-88865-221-8 |location=Vancouver}}</ref>
* ''Sam the Lovesick Snowman'' at the [[Center for Puppetry Arts]], a contemporary puppet show by Jon Ludwig inspired by "The Snow Man".<ref>{{cite web |last=Ludwig |first=Jon |title=Sam the Lovesick Snowman' |url=http://puppet.org/perform/snowman.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203063356/http://www.puppet.org/perform/snowman.shtml |archive-date=3 February 2009 |access-date=2 April 2010 |website=Center for Puppetry Arts }}</ref>
* ''Striking Twelve'', a modern musical take on "The Little Match Girl", created and performed by [[GrooveLily]].<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Blankenship |first1=Mark |date=13 November 2006 |title=Striking 12 |url=https://variety.com/2006/legit/reviews/striking-12-1200512017/ |access-date=18 November 2023 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref>
* ''[[The Red Shoes (musical)|The Red Shoes]]'', a 1993 [[Musical theatre|musical]] with a book by [[Marsha Norman]], lyrics by Norman and [[Bob Merrill]] and music by [[Jule Styne]]. 
* ''[[Once Upon a Mattress]]'', a musical comedy based on Andersen's work "The Princess and the Pea".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ross Griffel |first=Margaret |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y8bQAwAAQBAJ&q=Once%20Upon%20a%20Mattress&pg=PP1 |title=Operas in English: A Dictionary |publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]] |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-8108-8325-3 |edition=Revised |pages=393}}</ref>

===Awards===
* [[Hans Christian Andersen Award]]s, prizes awarded annually by the [[International Board on Books for Young People]] to an author and illustrator whose complete works have made lasting contributions to children's literature.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hans Christian Andersen Award |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hans_Christian_Andersen&action=edit |url-status= |access-date=18 November 2023 |website=International Board on Books for Young People}}</ref>
* [[Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award]], a Danish literary award established in 2010.
* Andersen's fable "The Emperor's New Clothes" was inducted in 2000 into the [[Prometheus Hall of Fame Award|Prometheus Hall of Fame]] for Best Classic Fiction.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Prometheus Awards |url=http://www.lfs.org/awards.shtml |access-date=18 November 2023 |website=Libertarian Futurist Society |archive-date=1 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501021257/http://www.lfs.org/awards.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Events and holidays===
[[File:Hans Christian Andersen Grave.jpg|thumb|upright|Andersen's refreshed gravestone at [[Assistens Cemetery (Copenhagen)|Assistens Cemetery]] in the [[Nørrebro]] district, Copenhagen]]
* Andersen's birthday, 2 April, is celebrated as [[International Children's Book Day]].<ref>{{cite web |title=International Children's Book Day |url=http://www.ibby.org/index.php?id=269 |access-date=17 December 2012 |website=International Board on Books for Young People |quote=Since 1967, on or around Hans Christian Andersen's birthday, 2 April, International Children's Book Day (ICBD) is celebrated to inspire a love of reading and to call attention to children's books. |archive-date=1 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401073511/http://www.ibby.org/index.php?id=269 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* The year 2005, designated "Andersen Year" in Denmark,<ref name="Brabant">{{cite news |last=Brabant |first=Malcolm |date=1 April 2005 |title=Enduring Legacy of Author Andersen |publisher=[[BBC News]] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4351829.stm |access-date=17 December 2012 |archive-date=19 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819231259/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4351829.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> was the bicentenary of Andersen's birth, and his life and work were celebrated around the world.
* In Denmark, a well-attended show was staged in Copenhagen's [[Parken Stadium]] during "Andersen Year" to celebrate the writer and his stories.<ref name=Brabant />
* The annual [[H.C. Andersen Marathon]], established in 2000, is held in [[Odense]], Denmark.

===Monuments and sculptures===
* [[Statue of Hans Christian Andersen, Rosenborg Castle Gardens|Seated bronze]] (1880) by sculptor [[August Saabye]] (1823–1916) can be seen in the [[Rosenborg Castle Gardens]], Copenhagen, Denmark.<ref name="Bredsdorff 1975"/>
* [[Lincoln Park#Public art|Seated bronze]] (1896) with a swan beside, a statue by the Danish sculptor [[Johannes Gelert]] (1852–1923), at [[Lincoln Park]], Stockton Drive near Webster Avenue, Chicago, United States.<ref>{{cite news |date=17 September 1896 |title=The Hans Christian Andersen Statue |work=[[Skandinaven]] |url=http://flps.newberry.org/article/5410780_2_1350 |url-status=dead |access-date=29 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904232503/http://flps.newberry.org/article/5410780_2_1350 |archive-date=4 September 2014}}</ref>
* [[Public art in Central Park#List of public art in Central Park|Seated bronze]] (1956), a statue by sculptor [[Georg J. Lober]] (1891–1961) and designer Otto Frederick Langman, at [[Central Park Lake]] in New York City, opposite East [[74th Street (Manhattan)|74th Street]] (GPS {{coord|40.7744306|-73.9677972}}). The seated bronze of Andersen upon a granite bench was erected on the author's 150th birthday.<ref name=CP>{{cite web |title=Hans Christian Andersen |url=https://www.centralpark.com/things-to-do/attractions/hans-christian-andersen/ |website=CentralPark.com |date=19 July 2023 |access-date=6 February 2024}}</ref> It includes a bronze duck representing the book ''[[The Ugly Duckling]]''.<ref name=CP /><ref>{{cite web |title=Hans Christian Andersen |url=https://www.centralparknyc.org/locations/hans-christian-andersen |website=Central Park Conservancy |access-date=6 February 2024 |archive-date=6 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240206132216/https://www.centralparknyc.org/locations/hans-christian-andersen |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Seated bronze (1965) was erected in Copenhagen City Hall Square (Rådhuspladsen), facing H. C. Andersens Boulevard, Copenhagen, Denmark, made by [[Henry Luckow-Nielsen]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The statue of H. C. Andersen at the City Hall Square |url=https://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/planning/statue-h-c-andersen-city-hall-square-gdk825755 |website=VisitCopenhagen |access-date=6 February 2024}}</ref>
* Bronze bust (2004), a replica of the 1865 bust by [[Herman Wilhelm Bissen]] (1798–1868), at Observatory Hill, [[Millers Point, New South Wales|Millers Point]], Sydney, Australia,<ref>{{cite web |title=Foreigners: Hans Christian Andersen |url=https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/foreigners/display/23193-hans-christian-andersen/photo/2 |website=Monument Australia |access-date=6 February 2024}}</ref> was officially unveiled by HRH Crown Prince [[Frederik X|Frederik]] and HRH Crown Princess [[Queen Mary of Denmark|Mary]] of Denmark in March 2005, on Andersen's bicentenary.<ref name=CoS /> It was to replace the 1955 bust erected in Phillip Park, Sydney; although found missing by 1984.<ref name=CoS>{{cite web |title=Hans Christian Andersen |url=https://www.cityartsydney.com.au/artwork/hans-christian-andersen/ |website=City of Sydney |access-date=6 February 2024}}</ref>
* [[:es:Estatua de Hans Christian Andersen|Seated bronze]] (2005), in the Plaza de la Marina in [[Málaga]], Spain, by José María Córdoba.
* Standing bronze (2005) was erected in [[Hviezdoslavovo námestie (Bratislava)|Hviezdoslavovo námestie]], [[Bratislava]], Slovakia, and was designed by Tibor Bártfay to mark the bicentennial.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hans Christian Andersen Statue |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hans-christian-andersen-statue |website=Atlas Obscura |access-date=6 February 2024 |date=22 September 2022 |archive-date=6 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240206132216/https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hans-christian-andersen-statue |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{Gallery
|width=150
|align=center
|File:NYC Hans C Andersen.jpg|Statue in [[Central Park]], New York commemorating Andersen and ''The Ugly Duckling''
|File:Sculpture Hans Christian Andersen in odense Harbor 3.jpg|Statue in [[Odense]] being led out to the harbour during a public exhibition
|File:Hans Andersen Solvang.jpg|Statue in [[Solvang, California]], a city built by Danish immigrants
|File:Statue of Hans Christian Andersen in Bratislava, Slovakia 01.jpg|Statue in [[Bratislava, Slovakia]]
|File:Bust of Hans Christian Andersen in Sydney.jpg|Portrait bust in [[Sydney]] unveiled by the Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark in 2005
}}

===Places named after Andersen===
* [[H. C. Andersens Boulevard]], a major road in Copenhagen formerly known as Vestre Boulevard (Western Boulevard), received its current name in 1955 to mark the 150-year anniversary of the writer's birth.<ref>{{Cite web |title=H. C. Andersens Blvd. · Copenhagen, Denmark |url=https://www.google.ca/maps/place/H.+C.+Andersens+Blvd.,+K%C3%B8benhavn,+Denmark/@55.6748989,12.5671106,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x46525312143c228b:0xa16fc43a8cd84302!8m2!3d55.6748959!4d12.5696855!16s%2Fm%2F0wbmj45?entry=tts |access-date=18 November 2023 |website=[[Google Maps]]}}</ref>
* [[Hans Christian Andersen Airport]], a small airport servicing the Danish city of Odense.
* [[Instituto Hans Christian Andersen]], a Chilean high school located in San Fernando, Colchagua Province, Chile.
* Hans Christian Andersen Park, [[Solvang, California]].
* CEIP Hans Christian Andersen, a primary Education School in Malaga, Spain.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Centro |url=https://www.colegioandersen.net/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801132323/https://www.colegioandersen.net/ |archive-date=1 August 2020 |access-date=18 November 2023 |website=Colegio Andersen}}</ref>

===Theme parks===
* In Japan, the city of [[Funabashi]] has a children's theme park named after Andersen.<ref>{{cite web |title=H.C. Andersen Park |url=https://www.city.funabashi.lg.jp/funabashistyle/en/003/p042886.html |access-date=12 April 2017 |website=Tourist Site "FUNABASHI Style" }}</ref> Funabashi is a [[sister city]] to Odense, the city of Andersen's birth.
* In China, a US$32 million theme park based on Andersen's tales and life opened in Shanghai's [[Yangpu, Shanghai|Yangpu district]] in 2017.<ref name="Sina">{{cite web |last=Fan |first=Yanping |date=11 November 2016 |title=安徒生童话乐园明年开园设七大主题区 |trans-title=Andersen fairy tales opening next year to set up seven theme areas |url=http://sh.sina.com.cn/news/k/2016-11-11/detail-ifxxsmif2745144.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413154127/http://sh.sina.com.cn/news/k/2016-11-11/detail-ifxxsmif2745144.shtml |archive-date=13 April 2017 |access-date=12 April 2017 |website=[[Sina Corp]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Short |first=Morgan |date=15 December 2017 |title=Grim Fairy Tales: A Trip to Andersen Park |url=https://www.smartshanghai.com/articles/activities/grim-fairy-tales-a-trip-to-hans-christian-andersen-land |access-date=18 November 2023 |website=SmartShanghai}}</ref> Construction on the project began in 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shanghaidaily.com/business/it/Fairytale-park-takes-shape-in-city/shdaily.shtml|title=Fairy-tale park takes shape in city|last=Zhu|first=Shenshen|website=[[Shanghai Daily]]|date=16 July 2013|access-date=12 April 2017}}</ref>

=== Other honours ===
* The flatworm ''Collastoma anderseni'' (family: [[Umagillidae]]), an [[endosymbiont]] from the intestine of the [[sipuncula]]n ''[[Themiste (worm)|Themiste]] lageniformis'' ({{Literal translation|Formed like a [[Lagena (foraminifera)|Lagenum]]}}), was named after Andersen.

==Works==
{{Further|Hans Christian Andersen bibliography}}

Andersen's fairy tales include:
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
* "[[The Angel (fairy tale)|The Angel]]" (1843)
* "[[The Bell (fairy tale)|The Bell]]" (1845)
* "[[Blockhead Hans]]" (1855)
* "The Elf Mound" (1845)
* "[[The Emperor's New Clothes]]" (1837)
* "[[The Fir-Tree]]" (1844)
* "[[The Flying Trunk]]" (1839)
* "[[The Galoshes of Fortune]]" (1838)
* "[[The Garden of Paradise]]" (1839)
* "[[The Goblin and the Grocer]]" (1852)
* "[[Golden Treasure]]" (1865)
* "[[The Happy Family (fairy tale)|The Happy Family]]" (1847)
* "[[The Ice-Maiden]]" (1861)
* "[[It's Quite True (fairy tale)|It's Quite True]]" (1852)
* "[[The Jumpers]]" (1845)
* "[[Little Claus and Big Claus]]" (1835)
* "[[Little Ida's Flowers]]" (1835)
* "[[The Little Match Girl]]" (1845)
* "[[The Little Mermaid]]" (1837)
* "[[Little Tuk (fairy tale)|Little Tuk]]" (1847)
* "[[The Most Incredible Thing]]" (1870)
* "[[The Naughty Boy]]" (1835)
* "[[The Nightingale (fairy tale)|The Nightingale]]" (1843)
* "[[The Old House (fairy tale)|The Old House]]" (1847)
* "[[Ole Lukoie]]" (1841)
* "[[The Philosopher's Stone (fairy tale)|The Philosopher's Stone]]" (1858)
* "[[The Princess and the Pea]]" (1835)
* "[[The Red Shoes (fairy tale)|The Red Shoes]]" (1845)
* "[[The Rose Elf]]" (1839)
* "[[The Shadow (fairy tale)|The Shadow]]" (1847)
* "The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep" (1845)
* "[[The Snow Queen]]" (1844)
* "[[The Snowman (fairy tale)|The Snowman]]" (1861)
* "[[The Steadfast Tin Soldier]]" (1838)
* "[[The Storks]]" (1839)
* "[[The Story of a Mother]]" (1847)
* "[[The Sweethearts; or, The Top and the Ball]]" (1843)
* "[[The Swineherd]]" (1841)
* "[[The Tallow Candle]]" (1820s)
* "[[The Teapot]]" (1863)
* "[[Thumbelina]]" (1835)
* "[[The Tinderbox]]" (1835)
* "[[The Traveling Companion]]" (1835)
* "[[The Ugly Duckling]]" (1843)
* "[[Gudbrand on the Hill-side|What the Old Man Does is Always Right]]" (1861)
* "[[The Wicked Prince]]" (1840)
* "[[The Wild Swans]]" (1838)
{{div col end}}

The Hans Christian Andersen Museum in Odense has a large digital collection of Hans Christian Andersen [[Papercutting|papercuts]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Papercuts by Hans Christian Andersen |url=http://www.museum.odense.dk/andersen/klip/billedstart.asp?language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308023347/http://hca.museum.odense.dk/klip/billedstart.asp?language=en |archive-date=8 March 2014 |access-date=23 May 2023 |website=Odense City Museums}}</ref> drawings,<ref>{{cite web |title=Drawings by Hans Christian Andersen |url=http://museum.odense.dk/andersen/tegning/billedstart.asp?language%3Den |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525163940/http://hca.museum.odense.dk/tegning/billedstart.asp?language=en |archive-date=25 May 2015 |access-date=23 May 2023 |website=Odense City Museums}}</ref> and portraits.<ref>{{cite web |title=Portraits of Hans Christian Andersen |url=http://museum.odense.dk/andersen/portraet/billedstart.asp?language%3Den |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308023653/http://hca.museum.odense.dk/portraet/billedstart.asp?language=en |archive-date=8 March 2014 |access-date=23 May 2023 |website=Odense City Museums}}</ref>

==See also==
* ''[[Kjøbenhavnsposten]]'', a Danish newspaper in which Andersen published one of his first poems
* [[Pleated Christmas hearts]], invented by Andersen
* [[Vilhelm Pedersen]], the first illustrator of Andersen's fairy tales
* [[Vasili Eroshenko]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{reflist|group=note}}

== Citations ==
{{reflist}}

== General bibliography ==
* {{Cite book |title=Fairy Tales |last=Andersen |first=Hans Christian |editor=Wullschläger |editor-first=Jackie |editor-link= |year=2005a |orig-year=2004 |publisher=Viking |location=New York |isbn=0-670-03377-4 |others=Tiina Nunnally}}
* {{Cite book |title=Hans Christian Andersen: A New Life |last=Andersen |first=Jens |year=2005 |orig-year=2003 |publisher=[[Duckworth Overlook]] |edition=Illustrated |location=New York, Woodstock, and London |isbn=978-0-71563-361-8 }}
* {{cite book |last=Binding|first= Paul |title=Hans Christian Andersen : European witness |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2014 <!--|isbn=9780300169232-->}}
* {{cite book|last=Bredsdorff|first=Elias|title=Hans Christian Andersen: the story of his life and work 1805–75|year=1975|publisher=Phaidon|isbn=0-7148-1636-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HZg9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA168|page=168}}
* Stig Dalager, ''Journey in Blue'', historical, [[biographical novel]] about H.C. Andersen, London: Peter Owen, 2006; Toronto: McArthur & Co., 2006.
* {{citation |last1=Frank |first1=Diane Crone |first2=Jeffrey |last2=Frank |year=2004 |orig-year=2003 |title=The Stories of Hans Christian Andersen |location=London |publisher=Granta Books |isbn=978-1-86207-712-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/storiesofhanschr0000ande_p4y3 }}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Andersen, Hans Christian | volume= 1 |last= Gosse |first= Edmund William |author-link= Edmund Gosse | pages = 958–959 |short= 1}}
* {{Cite book |last=Jørgensen |first=Jens |title=H.C. Andersen: en sand myte |publisher=Hovedland |year=1987 |isbn=978-87-7739-017-3 |edition=2nd |language=da}}
* Roes, André, ''[[Søren Kierkegaard|Kierkegaard]] en Andersen, Uitgeverij Aspekt'', Soesterberg (2017) {{ISBN|978-94-6338-215-1}}
* [[Ruth Manning-Sanders]], ''Swan of Denmark: The Story of Hans Christian Andersen'', Heinemann, 1949
* {{cite book |title=Hans Christian Andersen: Danish Writer and Citizen of the World |last=Rossel |first=Sven Hakon |publisher=Rodopi |year=1996 |isbn=90-5183-944-8 }}
* {{Cite book |title=The Wild Swan: The Life and Times of Hans Christian Andersen |url=https://archive.org/details/wildswanlifetime00stir |url-access=registration |last=Stirling |first=Monica |publisher=Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc |location=New York |year=1965}}
* {{Cite book |title=The King's Ballet Master |last=Terry |first=Walter |publisher=Dodd, Mead & Company |location=New York |year=1979 |isbn=0-396-07722-6 }}
* {{Cite book |title=Hans Christian Andersen: The Life of a Storyteller |last=Wullschläger |first=Jackie |publisher=[[Allen Lane]] |location=London |year=2000 |orig-year= |isbn=0-713-99325-1 |url-access=registration |author-link= |url=https://archive.org/details/hanschristianand0000wull_r2p3/}}
* {{Cite book |title=Hans Christian Andersen: The Misunderstood Storyteller |last=Zipes |first=Jack |year=2005 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York and London |isbn=0-415-97433-X }}

==External links==
{{sister project links|Hans Christian Andersen|s=Author:Hans Christian Andersen|voy=Travels of Hans Christian Andersen|n=no|v=no|wikt=no|}}
* [https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2298 Hans Christian Andersen at Project Gutenberg]
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Hans Christian Andersen}}
* {{Librivox author |id=122}}
* [https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/7007 ''The Story of My Life''] (1871) by Hans Christian Andersen in English
* {{IMDb name|0026153}}

{{Hans Christian Andersen|state=expanded}}
{{Romanticism}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Associated subjects
|list1=
{{Thumbelina}}
{{The Princess and the Pea}}
{{The Little Mermaid (Andersen)}}
{{The Steadfast Tin Soldier}}
{{The Ugly Duckling}}
{{The Nightingale}}
{{The Snow Queen}}
{{The Little Match Girl}}
{{The Red Shoes}}
}}
{{portalbar|biography|children's literature|Denmark|poetry}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andersen, Hans Christian}}
[[Category:Hans Christian Andersen| ]]
[[Category:1805 births]]
[[Category:1875 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Danish novelists]]
[[Category:19th-century Danish poets]]
[[Category:19th-century Danish male writers]]
[[Category:Accidental deaths from falls]]
[[Category:Christian writers]]
[[Category:Fairy tale writers]]
[[Category:Collectors of fairy tales]]
[[Category:Danish children's writers]]
[[Category:Danish Christians]]
[[Category:Danish fantasy writers]]
[[Category:Danish folklore]]
[[Category:19th-century Danish letter writers]]
[[Category:Danish male novelists]]
[[Category:Danish male poets]]
[[Category:Deaths from liver cancer in Denmark]]
[[Category:People from Odense]]
[[Category:Scandinavian folklore]]
[[Category:Danish bisexual men]]
[[Category:Danish bisexual writers]]
[[Category:Danish LGBTQ novelists]]
[[Category:Bisexual Christians]]
[[Category:Bisexual novelists]]
[[Category:Bisexual poets]]
[[Category:Bisexual male writers]]