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Aesop (6th Century BC)

There are conflicting histories of Aesop's life in Ancient Greece--early Greek sources say that Aesop was born in Thrace at a place on the Black sea coast, while later Roman writers say he was born in Phrygia. A popular Greek legend says that Aesop was once a slave, and was born mute, but after showing kindness to a priestess in Isis, he was given not only the power to speak but also a very special talent for storytelling. After translating an omen for the people of Samos, he was freed from slavery.

Antoine Galland (1646-1715)

Antoine Galland was a French orientalist and archaeologist. He studied Greek and Latin in Paris, where he also learned some Arabic. Through travel and study, Galland became an expert on the Arabic, Turkish, Persian languages and literature. He is known as one of the first Europeans to translate Arabic stories, including "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" and "Aladdin."

Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812. He thought of himself as a "very small and not-over-particularly-taken-care-of boy." He spent a lot of time outdoors but was also very eager to read especially novels by Tobias Smollet and Henry Fielding. When his family was moving to Marshalsea, Charles Dickens stayed at the house of a family friend. To pay for his stay and to help his family, Charles Dickens started working at Warring's Blacking Warehouse where he would paste labels on jars of shoe polish. His experiences in the factory developed his interest in reforming socioeconomic and working conditions, thus, much of his writing centered around the theme of social reform.

Charles Perrault (1608-1703)

Charles Perrault was born on January 12, 1628. His brother was one of the architects that work on the Louvre museum. Perrault came from a rich family and attended prestigious schools. He published the Tales and Stories of the Past with Morals with subtitles "Tales of Mother Goose." This created a new literary genre, the one that he is most famous for, fairy tales.

Despicable Me

Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875)

Hans Christian Andersen was born on April 2, 1805. He was born in Denmark having two traditional Danish names: Hans and Christian. Andersen's father thought of himself related to nobility; however, scholars said that this is not true. They are related to Royalty, but only through work or trade. Still, King Frederick VI took interest in him and paid part of his education. He worked as a tailor and at 14 he moved to Copenhagen. He auditioned to be an actor and got accepted into the Royal Danish Theatre, this due to his excellent soprano voice. However, his voice changed and a colleague of him told him that he considered Andersen a poet. This motivated him to start his writing career. Jason Collins, a man who felt care for Andersen covered his expenses and sent him to a grammar school. Andersen is most famous for his children's stories like "The Ugly Duckling," "The Little Mermaid," and many more. His works have been translated into more than 150 languages. They have also influenced motion pictures, plays, ballets, and animated films.