Hans Christian AndersenThe name of

Hans Christian Andersen
The name of Hans Christian Andersen is known around the world. So are the titles of many of his fairy tales, such as " The ugly Ducking " and"The little Mermaid." Little is known ,however about the early years of the man who wrote these stories. Born in 1805, in Odense , Denmark, Andersen described his childhood in romantic terms, In reality, he was lonely and unhappy as child, and desperately poor. His father,a shoemaker, died when he was eleven, and his mother, a washerwomen, was an alcoholic. In spite of these difficult beginnings, Andersen believed that he was special and that he deserved a better life. At the age of fourteen, he packed up his few things and went to Copenhagen to seek his fortune as writer.