As one of Denmark’s most iconic writers, Hans Christian Anderson likely wrote some of your favorite fairy tales. The remarkably sadistic Little Mermaid, the biggest tear-jerker The Little Match Girl and actual footage of this writer trying to get a good night’s sleep - The Princess and The Pea.

Anderson has been described as the inventor of “eventyrs” - which are the fantastic adventure stories we recognise as fairy tales today. He was also a bit of a rebel when it came to his writing style as Anderson wrote these the same way as they would be spoken (at the time at least). This made the stories more accessible because it didn’t really feel like you were reading a stuffy or epic tale, more like someone was just casually telling you a story.

He grew up poor but as he found success, he became a keen traveller and wrote many travelogues as well as his fairy tales. He was besties with Charles Dickens until he stayed with Dickens and his family for 5 weeks and eventually had to be asked to leave for overstaying his welcome. Anderson never understood why Dickens stopped writing to him after this and we promise not to tell him if you don’t.