A slightly rewritten re-post from two years ago.

It’s the birthday of Danish author Hans Christian Andersen (b. 1805), who wrote plays, poems, novels, autobiographies, and more, but is most famous for his literary fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 150 languages. (Be honest: can you even *name* 150 languages?) Some of his most famous fairy tales include “The Princess and the Pea” (1835), “The Little Mermaid” (1836), “The Emperor’s New Clothes” (1837), “The Ugly Duckling” (1844), “The Fir Tree” (1845), and “The Little Match-Seller” (1846), but he wrote over 160 tales.

Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark, of poor parents, and for most of his childhood lived in a tiny house with three families. Some speculate that this complete lack of privacy may have shaped his later work by forcing him to retreat into his own imagination. (Good for Andersen. I just get grouchy.) His father died when Andersen was only 11, and for a time his schooling was sketchy. At 14, Andersen went to Copenhagen hoping to be an actor; instead, he lived in poverty for three years as he tried to support himself singing, dancing, and manual laboring. Finally he met a director of the Royal Theatre, Jonas Collin, who believed Andersen had potential as a writer and who talked King Frederick VI into helping fund his education. Andersen, possibly dyslexic, struggled in school and was ostracized by students and mocked by teachers, who actively discouraged his writing efforts. This inspired his later tale, “The Brilliant Boy and the World’s Crappiest Teachers.” (Okay, he didn’t write that one, but he should have.)

Andersen was accepted to the University of Copenhagen in 1828, and in 1829 he published a short story, “A Walk from Holmen’s Canal to the East Point of the Island of Amager in the Years 1828 and 1829,” that launched his career. He published poetry and a play as well and got a travel grant in 1833 from the King. (Yay, King! In your face, World’s Crappiest Teachers!) He would travel extensively for the rest of his life. By now he was writing novels and plays, and his first book of fairy tales, “Tales, Told for Children,” came out in 1835. His tales were remarkable in that they handled complex, dark emotions while remaining relatable to children. (NB: Not all his tales were dark.) In the 1840s he began receiving international recognition and became buds with Charles Dickens; his reputation back home took much longer to catch up. Eventually it did, and today you can’t trip in Denmark without landing on a school or a street named after him.

Andersen fell in love many times with both women and men but remained alone throughout his life and always felt like an outsider. (Read “The Ugly Duckling” with this in mind.) Andersen was injured at the age of 67 when he fell out of bed and he never fully recovered. He died three years later, in 1875, in Copenhagen.

Reread your favorite fairy tale on this fine Monday, consider writing your own to reflect life during these odd times, and stay scrupulously honest to the data.