HC Andersen Facts That Are Less Known

An adored writer of children's fairy tales, today we would tell you some interesting facts about the renowned personality in the world of arts & culture, Hans Christian Andersen.

1.    HC Andersen had a lot of phobias. He kept a long rope in his luggage while travelling, in case he needed to escape a fire.

2.    He feared that he would accidentally be declared dead and buried alive, so he wrote a note every night before bed that read: “I only appear to be dead”.

3.    He never ate pork because he was worried he would suffer from trichinosis.

4.    HC Andersen never tamed a dog due to his fear of dogs.

5.    When he was in his late 60s, the Danish Government declared HC Andersen as a national treasure.

6.    Around the same time, he started showing symptoms of liver cancer. This became the cause of his demise.

7.    At the age of 14, he moved away to become an actor in Copenhagen, but when his voice changed, he took the advice of a friend at the theatre and focused on writing.

8.    At a school for poor kids, he became an apprentice to a weaver, thus picking up on tailoring to support himself financially.

9.    He liked to travel and write his adventures as travelogues. In 1851, one of his travelogues was published in Sweden.

10.  He published several more travelogues. These include Shadow Pictures of a Journey to the Harz, Swiss Saxony, A Poet's Bazaar, In Spain and A Visit to Portugal.

11.  HC Andersen lived from 1845 to 1864 at 67 Nyhavn, Copenhagen. There is a memorial plaque in his honour there today.

 

Andersen’s virtuous children's tales would always be cherished in our hearts.

Our favourite has remained to be “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. Which one is your favourite?