Unlucky in love, but world famous in his lifetime – Agro Plovdiv – 2024-04-02 07:18:37

Today is International Children’s Book Day

International Children’s Book Day is today and has been celebrated for over 60 years. It is no coincidence that the day coincides with the birthday of one of the most famous writers of children’s stories – the Dane Hans Christian Andersenwho was born almost 220 years ago. Among the fairy tales that are still beloved by children today are The Little Mermaid, The Little Matchmaker, The Ugly Duckling, Thumbelina, The Brave Lead Soldier, The Firefly, Ole Close Your Eyes and many others.

The writer was born on April 2, 1805 in Odense, Denmark in a modest family. Little Hans makes his own puppet theater and clothes for his dolls. Growing up, he loved reading Shakespeare’s plays.

He did not like studying at all, it was a great pain for him. As a child he worked as an apprentice, weaver and tailor, later in a cigarette factory.

At the age of 14, Hans Christian Andersen went to Copenhagen to look for work as an actor. At the time he had a fine soprano voice and was accepted at the Royal Theatre, but when his voice changed he became unemployed.

Andersen often fell in love with women with whom it was impossible to have a relationship, and this impossibility is reflected in many of his works.

Andersen’s oldest fairy tale is believed to be The Tallow Candle, written between 1819 and 1823, when he was still a student.

In 1829, Hans Christian Andersen achieved great success with the story “A Walk from Holmen Channel to the Eastern End of the Island of Amager”. Four years later he received a royal scholarship to travel abroad. Thus, on October 16, 1834, Andersen arrived in Rome.

In early 1835, The Improviser, Andersen’s first novel, appeared. He achieves real success, thanks to which the poet’s financial difficulties finally come to an end. In the same year, a part of his Tales was published in Copenhagen, and the other parts of the first volume appeared in 1836 and 1837. Although they later brought him world fame, the tales did not sell well at first.

For most of his life, Andersen undertook extensive journeys to various parts of Europe, recording his impressions in many travelogues.

During his longest journey, in 1840-1841, when he seems to have also passed through Bulgaria, he visited Germany, Italy, Malta and Greece, reaching Constantinople, and returning via the Black Sea and the Danube. He tells about this experience in “Poet’s Bazaar” (1842), which is considered his best travelogue.

Over time, the popularity of Andersen’s fairy tales grew, and by the end of the 1940s, he was already known throughout Europe.

In the spring of 1872, Andersen was seriously injured when he fell out of bed at home. Soon after, symptoms of liver cancer began to appear. The writer died on August 4, 1875 in “Rollighead” near Copenhagen – the home of his close friend the banker Moritz Melchior. Shortly before his death, Andersen selected the music for his funeral, insisting that “the rhythm should be suitable for little feet, because there will be more children in the procession.” Andersen is buried in the Assistance Cemetery in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen.

Before his death, Andersen was world-renowned. The Danish government declared him a national treasure and paid him a special annual pension. Even during his lifetime, the erection of a monument to the writer was planned, which is still located in the gardens of Rosenbor Castle.