60 Fun Facts About Hans Christian Andersen

In which Danish city was Hans Christian Andersen born in 1805?

The city now has a museum complex called H.C. Andersens Hus, a marathon in his name and an airport.

How many fairy tales did Andersen write, across nine volumes?

They have been translated into more than 125 languages.

What was the occupation of Andersen's mother, Anne Marie Andersdatter?

She was illiterate; his father, a shoemaker, read him the Arabian Nights.

Which Danish king has Andersen been speculated, without proof, to be the illegitimate son of?

Historian Jens Jørgensen backed the theory; some read The Ugly Duckling's swan as a hint of secret royal blood.

To which trades was the young Andersen apprenticed before leaving for Copenhagen?

He attended a school for poor children and had to support himself.

At what age did Andersen move to Copenhagen to try to become an actor?

His fine soprano voice got him into the Royal Danish Theatre, until it broke.

What did a colleague at the Royal Danish Theatre tell Andersen that changed the course of his life?

He took the remark seriously and turned to writing.

Which theatre director became Andersen's benefactor and sent him to grammar school in Slagelse?

He persuaded King Frederick VI to pay part of the fees; Andersen was later buried in the Collin family plot.

How did Andersen later look back on grammar school in Slagelse and Elsinore?

He lodged with a schoolmaster who abused him 'to improve his character' and discouraged him from writing.

What was Andersen's first published story, in 1822?

'The Tallow Candle', an even earlier tale, turned up in a Danish archive in 2012.

What is the emotional plight of the title object in Andersen's early tale 'The Tallow Candle'?

He wrote it while still at school and dedicated it to a benefactor, whose family kept it for nearly two centuries.

Andersen's first novel, The Improvisatore (1835), was inspired by his travels in which country?

A royal travel grant in 1833 had launched the first of many European journeys.

Which of these was among Andersen's first fairy tales, published in a booklet on 8 May 1835?

'Little Claus and Big Claus' and 'Little Ida's Flowers' were among the others; publisher Reitzel paid a modest fee.

How much did publisher C. A. Reitzel pay Andersen for the manuscript of his first fairy-tale booklet?

The booklet itself sold for 24 shillings.

For whom did Andersen write 'Little Ida's Flowers', the only tale in his first booklet not based on folklore?

Ida Thiele's father was one of his early benefactors.

'Thumbelina', published in Andersen's second booklet in December 1835, was inspired by which older story?

'The Naughty Boy', in the same booklet, was based on a poem about Eros from the Anacreontea.

Which German Romantic novella about a water spirit influenced 'The Little Mermaid'?

The tale, published in April 1837, established Andersen's international reputation.

'The Emperor's New Clothes' was based on a medieval story from which country?

The source had Arab and Jewish origins; Andersen added the child's cry only on the eve of publication.

How did the original ending of 'The Emperor's New Clothes' differ from the famous one?

Andersen revised it on the eve of publication to add the child calling out that the Emperor had nothing on.

Why did Danish critics dislike Andersen's first fairy-tale booklets in 1836?

Children's literature was supposed to educate rather than amuse; he waited a full year before publishing the third booklet.

In 1868, which American children's periodical offered Andersen $500 for twelve new stories?

Sixteen of his stories ran there, ten of them before they appeared in Denmark.

Which 1851 book of travel sketches earned Andersen wide acclaim?

His travelogues mixed documentary description with philosophical passages, and some even contain fairy tales.

At which Copenhagen address, now marked with a plaque, did Andersen live from 1845 to 1864?

Nyhavn is the colourful harbour-front now thick with tourists.

Which English novelist did Andersen first meet at a Countess of Blessington party in 1847?

He wrote in his diary of speaking to 'England's now-living writer whom I do love the most'.

How long did Andersen's 'brief' 1857 visit to Dickens's home actually last?

After he was asked to leave, his host stopped answering his letters, and Andersen never understood why.

Which David Copperfield character was reputedly modelled on Andersen's appearance?

The theory has the novelist venting after the five-week visit through his oily clerk.

Which tale did Andersen write out of his passion for the singer Jenny Lind, giving her a famous nickname?

He handed her a letter of proposal as she boarded a train; she signed her reply 'his affectionate sister, Jenny'.

What was found in a small pouch on Andersen's chest when he died?

She had been the unrequited love of his youth decades earlier.

To which man did Andersen write 'my sentiments for you are those of a woman'?

Collin wrote in his memoir that he was 'unable to respond to this love'; the two now share a grave plot.

Which Danish dancer may have inspired Andersen's 'The Snowman' through an affair, per Jackie Wullschlager?

Scharff gave him a silver toothbrush for his 57th birthday; Andersen called 1862 his 'erotic period'.

What accident in early 1872 left Andersen with injuries he never recovered from?

He was 67; signs of liver cancer followed soon after.

What instruction did Andersen give a composer about the music for his funeral?

He expected most of the mourners walking behind him to be children.

What was the name of the country house near Copenhagen where Andersen died in August 1875?

The name means 'calmness'; it belonged to his friends the banker Moritz Melchior and his wife.

How did the Danish government recognise Andersen in his lifetime?

By his death he was revered internationally.

Which Californian town founded by Danes has a Hans Christian Andersen Museum and park?

Its displays include a model of his childhood home.

Which star played Andersen in the 1952 musical film that opens by admitting it is 'not the story of his life'?

It calls itself 'a fairy tale about this great spinner of fairy tales'.

Which 2013 Disney film is loosely inspired by 'The Snow Queen'?

A faithful Soviet animated version of the same tale was made in 1957.

Which Andersen tale is the basis of the musical comedy Once Upon a Mattress?

Igor Stravinsky, meanwhile, turned another Andersen tale into a 1914 opera.

Which segment of Disney's Fantasia 2000 is based on an Andersen tale, set to Shostakovich?

The music is the first movement of the Piano Concerto No. 2.

Andersen's birthday, 2 April, is celebrated internationally as what?

Denmark declared 2005, his bicentenary, 'Andersen Year'.

Which prizes, given by the International Board on Books for Young People, bear Andersen's name?

A separate Danish Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award was founded in 2010.

What kind of creature is Collastoma anderseni, named in Andersen's honour?

It lives inside the intestine of a peanut worm, an honour of sorts.

Which Japanese city, a sister city of Andersen's birthplace, has a children's theme park named after him?

A US$32 million Andersen theme park also opened in China in 2017.

Who commissioned Copenhagen's Little Mermaid statue in 1909?

He had been captivated by a ballet of the tale at the Royal Theatre.

On whom was the body of the Little Mermaid statue actually modelled?

Ellen Price refused to pose nude, so Edvard Eriksen used his wife; the story that the face is Price's is false.

How tall is the Little Mermaid statue on Copenhagen's Langelinie promenade?

Famously small and unimposing, it weighs 175 kilograms and was unveiled in 1913.

What happened to the Little Mermaid statue on 24 April 1964?

The head was never recovered; the statue was decapitated again in 1998 and blown off its base in 2003.

Where was Copenhagen's Little Mermaid statue displayed for six months, its first official trip off its rock?

An authorised copy sat on a rock in Tivoli Gardens while it was away.

Disney's Technicolor remake of 'The Ugly Duckling', which won an Academy Award, holds what distinction?

Disney's duckling suffers for only a few minutes rather than months.

How is 'The Snow Queen' structured, unlike most Andersen tales?

It was published on 21 December 1844 and is one of his longest and most acclaimed stories.

In 'The Snow Queen', who makes the magic mirror that magnifies everything bad and ugly?

Splinters of the shattered mirror lodge in Kai's heart and eye and turn him cruel.

On what date was 'The Ugly Duckling' first published in Copenhagen?

It appeared on 11 November 1843 in New Fairy Tales. First Volume. First Collection, alongside three other tales.

According to Carole Rosen, which friend of Andersen partly inspired 'The Ugly Duckling'?

Rosen suggests the Swedish singer Jenny Lind was one inspiration for the tale, which is an original Andersen story.

In 'The Snow Queen', what are the two children who live in adjoining garrets called?

Kai (sometimes Kay) and Gerda can step from one home to the other across the roof gutters.

What does Gerda offer the river in exchange for Kai's return in 'The Snow Queen'?

Gerda throws her favourite red shoes to the river; when they wash back, she climbs into a boat that drifts away.

What word must Kai spell out of ice pieces to be freed by the Snow Queen?

After Gerda's tears melt his heart, the ice splinters fall to spell 'eternity' on the frozen lake the Queen calls the Mirror of Reason.

How does Gerda get past the snowflakes guarding the Snow Queen's palace?

Her prayer turns her breath into angels who fight off the snowflake guards.

In Andersen's original, roughly how long do mermaids live before turning to sea foam?

The grandmother explains that mermaids live about 300 years but have no eternal soul, dissolving into foam at death.

What was Andersen's working title for 'The Little Mermaid'?

'Daughters of the Air' refers to the spirits the mermaid joins at the end, an ending some critics thought tacked on.

In the medieval Spanish source of 'The Emperor's New Clothes', the cloth was invisible to whom?

Andersen shifted the focus from adulterous paternity in Juan Manuel's tale to courtly pride and intellectual vanity.