Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was born 220 years ago today, and died 150 years ago this year — now would seem a propitious time to add him to our annals. I love the photo above! “Action” photos of this vintage are extremely rare. Long exposure times were necessary in 19th century photography. If anyone or anything moved they would come out blurry. Miraculously this one came out (luckily he seems only to have been movie his arm). I don’t know if it was an accident or an experiment but it is a remarkable anomaly.
Like nearly all children, I grew up with Andersen’s fairy tales, not to mention the pseudo-bio-pic starring Danny Kaye, which came out in 1952. In his native Denmark, he is more than that, he is a national icon. Born into poor circumstances, Andersen had the good fortune to be accepted by the Danish National Theatre as a singer at the age of 14. His voice soon changed however, and he took up writing, with royal support. His works included novels, poetry, and travel writing as well, but he made his latest mark with the fairy tales, most of which date between 1835 and 1868. His best known stories include “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, “The Little Mermaid”, “The Princess and the Pea”, “The Nightingale” (inspired by Jenny Lind), “The Tinderbox”, “The Steadfast Tin Soldier”, “The Red Shoes”, “The Snow Queen”, “The Ugly Duckling”, “The Little Match Girl”, and “Thumbelina.”
Movie adaptations of his tales include Disney’s The Little Mermaid (1989) and Frozen (2013), and a segment in Fantasia 2000; Powell-Pressburger’s The Red Shoes (1948) and several episodes of Shelley Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theatre. Works inspired by his stories include the 1959 musical Once Upon a Mattress (1959), and Jerry Lewis’s The Nutty Professor (1963). New York’s Central Park has a statue inspired by The Ugly Duckling; Copenhagen has its famous monument to The Little Mermaid.
In honor of Andersen’s memory, many observe April 2 as International Children’s Book Day.