Hans Christian Andersen, Danish writer famed for his fairy tales, never married despite his evident love of children. Late in life his health declined rapidly; first he developed chronic bronchitis, then the more serious, and ultimately fatal, liver cancer.
When discussing the march for his funeral with the musician who was to compose it, Andersen said, "Most of the people who will walk after me will be children, so make the beat keep time with little steps."
When finally he was unable to care for himself, he moved into the house of some friends near Copenhagen, where he could see the ocean from his room. One morning he quietly finished his tea, and was found a few minutes later in his bed, dead. In his hands was a farewell letter written 45 years earlier by the only woman he had ever loved.
著名丹麥童話作家漢斯．克里斯蒂安．安徒生顯然很喜歡小孩子，但一生沒有結婚，晚年健康迅速轉差，先患慢性支氣管炎，繼而患更嚴重的疾病：肺癌。他後來因肺癌去世。
安徒生和譜寫他喪禮進行曲的樂師談到曲譜，說道：「給我送殯的人，多數會是小孩子，進行曲的節拍，宜配合細小的腳步。」
最後，安徒生再也不能照顧自己，就去哥本哈根附近朋友家中寄居，所居房間可以眺望海洋。一天早上，他靜靜喝了早茶，幾分鐘之後，就給發現躺在牀上死了，手裏拿着一封四十五年前寫的道別信，寫信人是他一生唯一愛過的女郎。