diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/usermodel/HSSFFont.java b/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/usermodel/HSSFFont.java
index b760082af..8d502d82a 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/usermodel/HSSFFont.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/usermodel/HSSFFont.java
@@ -114,6 +114,24 @@ public class HSSFFont
      */
 
     public final static byte   U_DOUBLE_ACCOUNTING = 0x22;
+
+    /**
+     * ANSI character set
+     */
+    public final static byte ANSI_CHARSET = 0;
+
+    /**
+     * Default character set.
+     */
+    public final static byte DEFAULT_CHARSET = 1;
+
+    /**
+     * Symbol character set
+     */
+    public final static byte SYMBOL_CHARSET = 2;
+
+
+
     private FontRecord         font;
     private short              index;
 
@@ -349,6 +367,31 @@ public class HSSFFont
         return font.getUnderline();
     }
 
+
+    /**
+     * get character-set to use.
+     * @return character-set
+     * @see #ANSI_CHARSET
+     * @see #DEFAULT_CHARSET
+     * @see #SYMBOL_CHARSET
+     */
+    public byte getCharSet()
+    {
+        return font.getCharset();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * set character-set to use.
+     * @return character-set
+     * @see #ANSI_CHARSET
+     * @see #DEFAULT_CHARSET
+     * @see #SYMBOL_CHARSET
+     */
+    public void setCharSet(byte charset)
+    {
+        font.setCharset(charset);
+    }
+
     public String toString()
     {
         return "org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFFont{" +