Hans Christian Andersen in Central park Photo Print

Hans Christian Andersen was born in the town of Odense, Denmark, on Tuesday, April 2, 1805. He was an only child. Andersen's father, also Hans, considered himself related to nobility. His paternal grandmother had told his father that their family had in the past belonged to a higher social class,[4] but investigations prove these stories unfounded.[4][5] Theories that Andersen may have been an illegitimate son of King Christian VII persist.[4] Nevertheless, King Frederick VI took a personal interest in him as a youth and paid for a part of his education.[6] Andersen's father, who had received an elementary education, introduced Andersen to literature, reading him Arabian Nights.[7] Andersen's mother, Anne Marie Andersdatter, was educated and worked as a lawyer following his father's death in 1816, remarrying in 1818.[7] Andersen was sent to a boarding school for rich children where he received an advanced education and was forced to support himself, working as a banker and, later, for a doctor. At 14, he moved to Copenhagen to seek employment as an actor. Having an excellent soprano voice, he was accepted into the Royal Danish Theatre, but his voice soon changed. A colleague at the theatre told him that he considered Andersen a poet. Taking the suggestion seriously, Andersen began to focus on writing. Andersen's childhood home in Odense Jonas Collin, following a chance encounter with Andersen, immediately felt a great affection for him, and sent him to a grammar school in Slagelse, covering all his expenses.[8] Andersen had already published his first story, The Ghost at Palnatoke's Grave, in 1822. Though not a keen student, he also attended school at Elsinore until 1827.[9] He later said his years in school were the darkest and most bitter of his life. At one school, he lived at his schoolmaster's home. There he was abused in order "to improve his character," he was told. He later said the faculty had discouraged him from writing in general, causing him to enter a state of depression.