H C Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen was born on April 2nd, 1805, in the slums of Odense, Denmark. His exact birthplace is uncertain but it is said to be the house called H.C. Andersen Hus which now makes a large portion of the Andersen museum. ... After school Andersen would run home and play with his puppets, made by his father, and make up his own stories for them to act out. ... Andersen went to school then would spend his time at home and finding comfort in his puppets and stories. ... For a short time Andersen was an apprentice to a weaver and tailor and even worked in a tobacco factory. In 1818, Anne-Marie Andersen remarried, the family moved to a cottage by a river where Andersen would stand on a boulder in the river and sing at the top of his voice. ... Andersen felt as though singing, dancing, and acting held his future, so he became the debate of the house. ... So Andersen emptied his money-box and his mother packed some of his things and he said goodbye to his grandmother (whom he never saw again). Andersen had bribed a mail carrier to see him to the gates of Copenhagen on a mailboat from where he continued by coach to downtown. Theatre season had just began when Andersen arrived at Copenhagen on Monday, September 6th, 1819. ... Luckily, the night that Andersen went to visit Siboni he was entertaining very important guest and when Andersen sang they all applauded loudly and agreed to help him. ... However, after six months of lessons Andersen was sent away because his voice had cracked and Siboni felt as though he could make no more progress with this voice ( Spink 26). Finally, in September 1820, Andersen managed to get a small walk-on part at the theatre and soon more followed. ... In May 1822 Andersen was fully dismissed from the theatre, and instead of performing, Andersen decided to submit his plays- all of which were rejected- to local theatres. ... Jonas Collin, a member of the theatres governing office, took note of Andersen and made plans to send him to a state grammar school ninety miles away from Copenhagen (Greene 18). In October 1822, at the age of seventeen, Andersen was sent to the school in Slagelse where he was the oldest boy there. The headmaster at Slagelse, Simon Meisling, was a misunderstanding man who gave good reports to Collin but bullied and mocked Andersen. ... Andersen was quite miserable and often felt suicidal. Finally, Collin took Andersen from Slagelse and gave him a private tutor in Copenhagen. In October of 1828 Andersen, now 23, passed his examination into the University of Copenhagen. ... While at school Andersen put together a small book of his plays, called Youthful Attempts, which accidently got published under his pseudonym William Christian Walter. ... With his exams finished Andersen had time to write again and his first significant work appeared in 1829, it was entitled A Walking Tour from Holmens Canal to the Eastern Point of Amager, this was the walk he made daily to his tutors home. ... Andersen finally achieved the success he had been longing for and decided to spend the summer of 1830 traveling to see more of Denmark and visit places that he could use as settings in a historical novel- a style used by Walter Scott. After extensive traveling Andersen decided to stop in Odense, for a few weeks to visit with his mother, before going south to visit a school friend. ... During his stay at the Voigts home Andersen and Riborg spent many hours walking through the woods and discussing his literary works. At the end of his trip Andersen was presented with a posy from Riborg and he knew that he was in love with her.