Hans Christian Andersen was born on April 2, 1805 in Odense on the island of Funen in Denmark in the family of a shoemaker and a laundress. In 1819, after the death of his father, the young man, dreaming of becoming an artist, went to Copenhagen, where he tried to find himself as a singer, actor or dancer. In 1819-1822, while working in the theater, he received several private lessons in Danish, German and Latin. After three years of unsuccessful attempts to become a dramatic artist, Andersen decided to write plays. After reading his drama “The Sun of the Elves”, the Board of the Royal Theatre, noting the glimmers of talent of the young playwright, decided to ask the king for a scholarship for the young man to study at the gymnasium. The scholarship was received, Andersen’s personal trustee was a member of the theater’s directorate, adviser Jonas Colin, who took an active part in the future fate of the young man. In 1822-1826 Andersen studied at the gymnasium in Slagels, and then in Elsinore .. Here, under the influence of a difficult relationship with the headmaster of the school, who humiliated the young man in every possible way, Andersen wrote the poem "The Dying Child", which later, along with his other poems, was printed in a literary and art magazine and brought him fame. At the persistent requests of Andersen Collin to pick him up from school, he organized private training for the ward in Copenhagen in 1827. In 1828 Andersen entered the University of Copenhagen and graduated with a Ph.D.. He combined his studies with his writing, and as a result, in 1829, Andersen’s first romantic prose “Journey on foot from the Holmen Canal to the eastern cape of Amager Island” . was published. In the same year, he wrote the vaudeville Love on the Nicholas Tower, which was staged at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen and was a great success. In 1831, having saved a small sum from fees, Andersen went on his first trip to Germany, where he met the writers Ludwig Thick in Dresden and Adalbert von Shamisso in Berlin. The result of the trip was an essay-reflection "Shadow paintings" (1831) and a collection of poems "Fantasies and sketches" .. Over the next two years, Andersen released four collections of poems. In 1833, he gave King Frederick a cycle of poems about Denmark and received a cash allowance for this, which he spent on a trip to Europe (1833-1834). In Paris, Andersen met Heinrich Heine, in Rome - with the sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen .. After Rome, he went to Florence, Naples, Venice, where he wrote essays about Michelangelo and Raphael. He wrote a poem "Agnet and the sailor", a fairy tale-story "Ice Woman" . Andersen lived outside Denmark for more than nine years. He visited many countries Italy, Spain, France, Sweden, Norway, Portugal, England, Scotland, Bulgaria, Greece, Bohemia and Moravia, Slovenia, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, as well as America, Turkey, Morocco, Monaco and Malta, and in some countries he visited many times. In the impressions of trips, acquaintances and conversations with famous poets, writers, composers of that time, he drew inspiration for his new works. During his travels, he met and conversed with composers Ferenc Liszt and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartoldi. Charles Dickens (with whom he was friendly and even lived during a trip to England in 1857) Victor Hugo , Honore de Balzac and Alexandre Dumas and many other artists. Directly traveling Andersen devoted to the works "The poet's Bazaar" (1842), "In Sweden" (1851), "In Spain" (1863) and "Visit to Portugal" (1868) In 1835, the writer's novel Improviser (1835) was published, which brought him European fame. Later, Hans Andersen wrote the novels Just a Violinist (1837), Two Baronesses (1849), To Be or Not to Be (1857), and Petka the Happy (1870). Andersen's main contribution to Danish drama is the romantic drama Mulat (1840) about the equality of all people, regardless of race. In fairy-tale comedies " More expensive pearls and gold" (1849), "Ole-Lukoye" (1850), "Grandmother" (1851), etc. Andersen embodies the people's ideals of good and justice . The crown of Andersen's work - his tales . Andersen's tales celebrate maternal sacrifice ("One Mother's Story"), the feat of love ("The Little Mermaid"), the power of art ("The Nightingale"), the thorny path of knowledge ("The Bell"), the triumph of a sincere feeling over a cold and evil mind ("The Snow Queen") Many stories are autobiographical.......... [ ) In Despicable Duckling, Andersen describes his own path to fame. Andersen's best tales also include "Persistent Tin Soldier" (1838), "Girl with Matches" (1845), "Shadow" (1847), "Mother" (1848), etc. From 1835 to 1872, the writer published 24 collections of fairy tales and stories. Among the works of Andersen, published in the second half of his life (1845-1875) is the poem Agasfer (1848), the novels Two Baronesses (1849), To Be or Not to Be (1853), etc. In 1846, he began writing his artistic autobiography, The Tale of My Life, which he completed in 1875, the last year of his life. On August 4, 1875, Hans Christian Andersen died in Copenhagen. The funeral day of the poet-storyteller was declared a national day of mourning. Since 1956, the International Children's Book Council (IBBY) has awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Gold Medal, the highest international award in modern children's literature. This medal is awarded to writers, and since 1966 - artists, for contributions to children's literature. Since 1967, on the initiative and decision of the International Children's Book Council, 2 April, Andersen's birthday, is celebrated as International Children's Book Day. 2005 in connection with the 200th anniversary of the birth of the writer was declared by UNESCO the year of Hans Christian Andersen