(1805- 1875)
One of the world's great story tellers, Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark.
After his father's death he worked in a factory, but soon displayed a talent for poetry.
He became known by his "Walk to Amager", a literary satire in the form of a humorous narrative. In 1830 he published the first collected volume of his Poems, and in 1831 a second, under the title of "Fantasies and Sketches".
He wrote many other works, but it is such fairy- tales as "The Tin Soldier", "The Tinderbox" and "The Ugly Duckling"that have gained him lasting fame and delighted children throughout the world.