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William Shakespeare (1)


William Shakespeare was born in April 1564. His father was a rich citizen whose business was making and selling leather gloves. His mother was the daughter of an important farmer. When he was nineteen, William married Anne. She was a farmer's daughter and she was some years older than himself. During that years he may have helped his father in the family business or he may have been a country schoolmaster for a time, we don't know exactly. Shakespeare had three children: Susannah, the eldest, then twins — a son, Hamnet, and another girl, Judith. In 1587 Shakespeare went to work in London, leaving Anne and the children at home. 
Some years later Shakespeare began to write plays. The parents did not even guess that their son would be such an important figure in English poetry and drama and that his plays would still be acted four hundred years later in England and all over the world. By 1592 Shakespeare was an important member of well-known company. In 1599 the famous Globe Theatre was built on the south bank of the river Thames. 
In that theatre most of his plays were performed. It was a round building with the stage in the center, open to the sky. If it was raining, the actors got wet; if the weather was too bad, there was no performance at all. 
By 1603 Shakespeare was the leading poet and dramatist of his time. He continued to write for the next ten years. In 1613 he finally stopped writing and went to live in Stratford where he died in 1616. He is buried in Stratford-on-Avon.

William Shakespeare (2)

Nowadays people seem to read newspapers mostly. Many people are fond of reading detective stories or spy thrillers. I myself prefer books about politics, history, travel-books and biographies. It is my dream to become a student of the department of foreign languages and to be able to read the books by my favorite English and American writers in the original. 
As for the American writers, I like to read books by Mark Twain and O'Henry. I enjoy reading books by such English writers as Charles Dickens, Robert Stevenson, Walter Scott. My favorite English writer is William Shakespeare, one of the most outstanding personalities in the world literature. William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon not far from London. His father, John Shakespeare, came to Stratford from a village and opened a shop there. He never became a rich man but at one time he was an important official in the city. William Shakespeare lived in Stratford until he was twenty-one. He got married and had three children. At the age of 21 William left Stratford for London to join a company of actors. He was a very good actor and an excellent playwright. 
William Shakespeare lived and worked in London for 25 years. By the end of the 16th century William Shakespeare and his friends had enough money to build their own theatre — the Globe. 
In all Shakespeare wrote 37 plays, 2 long poems, a sonnet cycle of 155 small pieces. William Shakespeare had a natural gift for comedy. In his comedies "Two Gentlemen of Verona", "As you Like It", "The Twelfth Night" William Shakespeare describes the adventures of young men and women, their love, friendship, happiness. 
Shakespeare's tragedies "King Lear", "Othello", "Romeo and Juliet" depict noblemen who opposed evil in the world. Since they were written there has never been a time when at least some of Shakespeare's plays were not staged. 
In England and other countries it is the highest honor for an actor to be invited to play in a comedy or a tragedy by Shakespeare. In the last 35 years all the plays by W. Shakespeare have been filmed. Since 1879 Shakespeare's Festival has been held every year at Stratford-upon-Avon.

Charles Dickens (1)

Charles Dickens was born in 1812. He lived in the south of England when he was a little boy. His father worked in an office. He was a very clever man, but he was very poor. Charles had many brothers and sisters, but he did not often play with them. His father had many books and Charles liked to read them. He learned to read very early. When Charles was 10 years old, his family went to London. 
There his father got into debt (as he had little money) and then into debtor's prison. So little Charles began to work when he was ten. That was the beginning of Charles' hard life.He worked at a small factory in London, pasting labels on blacking bottles. He had to work in a dirty room with no windows. He did not like his work, but he had to work at the factory for two years. Then he went to school for three years, but he did not learn much at school. He learned much at home, from his father and from other clever people. 
Later he worked as a reporter to the Parliament and became a writer of short stories. In 1837 he published his first novel "The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club". And the young reporter became a famous writer. Then he published novel after novel — "Oliver Twist", "Dombey and Son", "David Copperfield" and many other good books. His books are very interesting, they tell  us about the hard life of the poor people in. England of that time. When we read his books, we sometimes laugh, but we often want to cry. 
Charles Dickens died in 1870. 
He is one of the greatest novelists in the English literature. Dickens lived more than a hundred years ago, but people in the whole world like to read his books today, because in his books he showed a real world and people of Victorian England.

Charles Dickens (2)

Charles Dickens is one of the greatest novelists in the English literature. In his books he showed a real world and people of Victorian England. Charles Dickens was born in London in 1812. His father was a clerk and had eight children. His father always spent more money than he received. When Charles was 10 years old his family was put into prison for his father's debts. Charles had to give up the school and work. He worked at the blacking factory ten hours a day. Charles hated it and never forgot the experience. He used it in many novels, especially in "David Copperfield" and "Oliver Twist". 
At the age of 15 he was lucky to get a job in a London lawyer's office though he didn't like this job. When he was 16 he started to work for a newspaper. And by the age of 25 he became one of the best journalists in London. 
"The Pickwick Papers" was his first great work which made him popular. His books became very popular in many countries and he spent much time abroad. In the last years of his life he began to meet with his readers and to give public readings from his books. These meetings were very successful.
He never stopped writing and travelling and he died very suddenly in 1870.

 

Robert Burns (1)

Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet, was born on January 25, 1759 in Scotland. His father, William Burns, was a poor farmer. There were seven children in the family, and Robert was the eldest. His father knew the value of a good education, and he tried to give his children the best education he could afford. Robert was sent to school at the age of six, but as his father could not pay for the two sons, Robert and his brother Gilbert attended school in turn. When not at school, the boys helped their father with his work in the fields. But soon the teacher left, and so Burns’ father invited a young school teacher to teach the boys. When the teacher left, the poet's father taught the children himself. Reading and writing, arithmetic, English grammar, history, literature, French and Latin — that was Robert Burns’ education. 
Robert's mother knew many Scottish songs and ballads and often sang them to her son in his childhood. His mother's friend Betty told Robert many fantastic tales about devils, fairies and witches. Burns’ mother died in 1820. She lived long and enjoyed the fame of her poet son. 
Robert Burns became fond of reading. He read whatever he could lay his hands on. His favorite writers were Shakespeare, Smollett, Robert Fergusson, a talented Scottish poet (1750—1774). Fergusson's tragic fate deeply touched Burns. Burns devoted many verses to Fergusson. 
Robert Burns began to write poetry when he was fifteen. He composed verses to the melodies of old folk-songs, which he had admired from his early childhood. He sang of the woods, fields and wonderful valleys of his native land. Burns published some of his poems in 1786. Their success was complete. And Robert Burns became well known and popular. 
When Burns came to Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, a new and enlarged edition of his poems was published. But soon Edinburgh society grew tired of him and forgot about the poet. Robert Burns left Edinburgh and returned to his native village with money enough to buy a farm and marry Jean Armor. Burns devoted to Jean many beautiful poems, such as "I love my Jean", "Bonnie Jean" and many others. 
Robert Burns’ poems were very popular, he always remained poor. He worked hard and destroyed his health. He died in poverty at the age of thirty — seven in 1796. The poetry and songs of Robert Burns are famous all over the world. Robert Burns’ poems and verses inspired Beethoven, Schumann, Mendelssohn and other composers who wrote music to them. Burns is a democratic poet. His sympathy was with the poor. That is why his funeral was attended by a crowd of ten thousand. They were the common Scottish people whom he had loved and for whom he had written his poems and songs. 
The most popular poems of Robert Burns are "The Tree of Liberty", "My Heart's in the Highlands", "A Red, Red Rose" and many others.

Robert Burns (2)

Robert Burns, a famous and popular Scottish poet, was born in 1759. Burns was born in a family of a poor farmer. Robert was the eldest of seven children, so he had to help his father on the farm. His father William Burns was a kind person who loved and understood people. So Robert learned to love and respect people from his father. His mother had a beautiful voice and often sang songs and told many folk-tales to her children. Robert remembered mother's songs and stories all his life. His father wanted Robert to be an educated person and sent him to school at the age of 6. Robert liked reading books. His favorite writer was Shakespeare. 
At the age of 15 he started to write poems. He wrote about people, about everyday life. The heroes of his mother's stories became the heroes of his poems. In 1777 Robert moved to another town where he organized a society of young people. They discussed moral, social and political problems of that, time.
In 1784, his father died and Robert had to work at the farm. In 1791 he had to sell the farm because he wasn't successful at farming. Feeling the injustice of the world, he protested against landlords who owned the best land in his poetry. In 1786 he published a book of his poems which soon made him popular. 
Burns took part in creating a book of old Scottish folksongs, writing words for many melodies. Burns is the author of the words of the song "Auld Lang Syne", which Scottish people sing on the New Year Day. Robert Burns died in poverty at the age of 37.

Oscar Wilde


Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin on October 16, 1854. His father was a famous Irish surgeon. His mother was well known in Dublin as a writer of verse and prose. At school, and later at Oxford, Oscar displayed gift for art and the humanities. While at the university, Wilde became one of the most famous personalities of the day: he wore his hair long, decorated his room with different beautiful things. His witty sayings were well known among the students. 
After graduating from the university, Wilde turned his attention to writing, travelling and lecturing. 
Oscar Wilde earned the reputation of being the leader of the Aesthetic Movement and an apostle of beauty. His most famous works appeared over the next ten years. The most popular are "The Happy Prince and Other Tales", "The Picture of Dorian Gray", and his comedies "Lady Windermere's Fan", "An Ideal Husband", "The Importance of Being Earnest". 
Wilde also wrote poems, essays, reviews, letters. He attracted the attention of his audiences by the brilliance of his conversation, his knowledge, and the force of his personality. In his works, especially in his tales, he glorifies beauty, and not only the beauty of nature or artificial beauty, buc the beauty of devoted love. He admires unselfishness, kindness and generosity ("The Happy Prince", "The Nightingale and the Rose") and despises egoism and greed ("The Selfish Giant", "The Devoted Friend"). The theme of most of his works, even of his tales, is quite realistic. He shows the contrast between wealth and poverty. His own sympathy for poor, laboring people is quite evident. 
At the height of his popularity and success, tragedy struck. He was accused of immorality and sentenced to two years' imprisonment. When released from prison in 1897, he lived mainly on the Continent, settling later in Paris. In 1898 he published his poem "Ballad of Reading Gaol". He died in Paris m 1900.

Jerome К. Jerome


In the history of English literature Jerome K. Jerome occupies a modest place. He cannot be compared with Dickens, Thackeray, or Bernard Shaw, but he is well known as a writer-humorist not only in his country but in another countries too. 
Jerome Klapka Jerome was born in England on May 2, 1859 into the family of ruined businessman. Jerome's childhood was poor and sad. He could not finish school because his father died in 1871 and the boy had to begin working to support his family. First he worked as a clerk. Later he took up teaching journalism and acting. For three years he was an actor and had to play different parts. He had very little money and often went hungry and had no place to sleep. 
In his free moments Jerome tried to write. He wrote plays, stories and articles, but nothing was published. His first literary success was a one-act comedy which was performed in the Globe theatre in London in 1886. 
In 1889 a collection of his articles was published. They were published as a book under the title "The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow". This book became very popular in England, and it was published 105 times in 4 years. In 1889 Jerome's best book "Three Men in a Boat" also came out. "The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow" and "Three Men in a Boat" made the author famous. The books were translated into several European languages. In the following years Jerome published several books and plays. He went travelling all over Europe and in 1899 he visited St. Petersburg, where he was met with enthusiasm. He knew Russian literature very well. Jerome K. Jerome also wrote serious books, but the public didn't like them. He criticized German imperialism and the policy of Britain in China. 
Jerome's last book was his autobiography "My Life and Time". He died in 1927. 
The works of Jerome are full of humor and they can't but amuse the reader.

Charlotte Bronte


Charlotte Bronte was born in a small town in England in 1816. Charlotte and her sisters, Emily and Ann had a very hard life, from early childhood they knew poverty and very hard work. 
Charlotte received her education at an orphanage (which she described in her novel "Jane Eyre"). After that she worked as a governess and a teacher. The works of Charlotte Bronte, together with Charles Dickens, William Thackeray and Elisabeth Gaskell are considered to belong to the fine school of English realism of the first half of the 19th century. 
In her works she wrote about the society she lived in and criticized it. Her first novel "The Professor" was published only after Charlotte’s death. 
The best novel "Jane Eyre", published in 1847, is partly biographical. In 1849 the novel "Shirley" was published. The story is about the Luddites, workers who did not understand that the real enemy of the working class were the capitalists and aristocrats. They thought that machinery, which they destroyed, was their enemy. The last novel "Vilette" came out in 1853. Charlotte Bronte died from tuberculosis in 1855. 
The three Bronte sisters are well known writers and their books are published in many countries.

Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll was the pen-name of Charles L. Dodgson, the man who wrote a famous book for children "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". Charles L. Dodgson was born in England in 1832. He got his early education at a public school. Then he became a student at Oxford. Charles studied mathematics and later taught this subject in the same college. Charles Dodgson had no family, but he loved children very much. He often visited his friend, who had a large family. There were three little girls in the family. One of them Alice, was four years old. 
Dodgson liked Alice very much and he often told her interesting stories which he made up himself. Charles told Alice Liddell about the adventure of a little girl, and she liked the stories very much. 
When Alice Liddell was about ten years old, she asked Charles to write down the stories for her, and he did so. He called the heroine of his book also Alice. This hand-written book had many pictures made by Charles himself. They were not very good pictures but the children liked them. 
One day a friend of the Liddell, a writer, came to see the family. He saw the hand-written book made by Charles Dodgson and began to read it with great interest. He read the book to the end and said that it was good and that all the children in England must read it. 
Charles decided to publish the book but he did not want to do it under his own name. So he took the pen-name of Lewis Carroll. The book came out in 1865 and all the people who read it liked it very much. Later the book was published in the United States, in France and in Germany. The first Russian translation of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" came out in 1923. 
In England the book was published very many times during the author's life and you can always find it in the bookshops of today. "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" is still a favorite children's book.

Nathaniel Hawthorne (Натаниель Готорн)


Nathaniel Hawthorne, an American writer born in Salem, grew up with his widowed mother and his books. He attended college and returned to Salem with intentions to be a writer. He published his first novel in 1828, and was disappointed by its failure. Undeterred, he continued his writing career, submitting stories to New England magazines. Several of his stories were compiled into "Twice-Told Tales", whose success established him as a writer in 1837. 
Hawthorne was heavily influenced by his Puritan heritage. One of Hawthorne's forefathers was Judge Hawthorne, who presided over the Salem witch trials in 1692. Hawthorne carried so much guilt for his ancestor's participation in the infamous trials that he felt compelled to change his last name. Hawthorne's sensitivity to guilt is clearly present in the "Scarlet Letter", as well as some of his other works. Other personal influences reflected in Hawthorne's writing include his love of reading and nature. As a child, Hawthorne was injured in a game of ball and spent several years mostly indoors, owing to the temporary lameness resulting from the injury. It was during this period that he learned to love Shakespeare and the Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, as well as other important pieces of English literature. Later, Hawthorne and his family moved to another city to live on some family property in the country. For several years, which he later referred to as the happiest period of his life, Hawthorne spent all his time roaming the forest, hunting and fishing. The freedom he felt in nature is often represented in the Scarlet Letter. 
Later Hawthorne married a woman named Sophia, but didn't seem to have a high opinion of women writers of the time. However, Hawthorne's literary style was so highly stylized and romanticized that he sometimes received the same brand of criticism. Still, Hawthorne was hailed as an insightful writer, who was able to craft novels revolving around such sensitive topics as adultery because of his established reputation as an important author of his time.

O'Henry

O'Henry was born in Greensboro, a little town in North Carolina in 1862. His real name was William Sydney Porter The works of this writer reflect a specific period in American literature — the turn of the century. His credo was — art should be true, democratic and it should address contemporary life and embrace all aspects of life. 
O'Henry was an outstanding humourist. He worked out and enriched all the types of the short story: the anecdote, the adventure story, tales and sketches. The best of his works were published in books: "Cabbages and Kings", "The Four Million", "Heart of the West", "The Voice of the City" and others. He was most famous for his stories of city Me. O'Henry wrote nearly 150 stories with a New York background. His works have considerable influence on American literature. His love for humanity, for the common people, his critical attitude towards injustice attract readers to this day. O'Henry could work out a plot that would keep the reader in suspense up to the surprising end. 
He was a born writer of great talent. The conversation is witty, humorous and often exact and precise. O'Henry is one of the most widely published American authors. His works have been translated into nearly every language. He has been called "The American Maupassant" and is ranked among the world's outstanding short-story writers.

John Galsworthy


Popular American writer John Galsworthy was born in 1853. He attended a big school because his father wanted John to be a lawyer. So John went to the Oxford University. But some time later he told his father about his wish to become a writer. His favorite writer was Turgenev and also he liked all books by Tolstoy. His literally career began at the age of seventeen while he studied at the Oxford University. His works established him as one of American's leading author. John Galsworthy wrote some scientific books and articles as "All about writer" 1908, "Thinking about art" 1911, "The art and the war" 1915. All of them are about art in our life. 
"The Forsyte Saga" was published in 1922 in May. It is the most famous work by John Galsworthy. From this novel we get to know about the Forsyte family. The main character is Miss Forsyte. When she was a little girl her mother died and her father had run away with foreign girl. The Forsyte family wasn't very friendly but they tried to help each other with problems. 
"The Forsyte Saga" was the best work by John Galsworthy. "It was the happiest day in my life", said John to his friensd some time later. But it was very difficult for him to write this novel because he was from "Forsyte" family. "Old Jolyon", for example, was his father.

Mark Twain

Mark Twain was born in the state of Missouri in the United States in 1835. His father was an unsuccessful lawyer. The family seldom lived more than a year or two in the same town. That is why the future writer did not even finish secondary school. He went to work at the age of 12. 
For two years he worked for his elder brother's small newspaper both as a printer and reporter. 
In 1857 he became a pilot on the Mississippi river. He continued to write. 
In 1876 he wrote "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". The book was read by everybody, by the young and old and was translated into nearly every language in the world. "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" was such a success that in 1884 he wrote "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", and then "Tom Sawyer Abroad" and "Tom Sawyer the Detective" in 1896. There were many other books written by Mark Twain. But his novels about Tom Sawyer and his friend Huckleberry 
Finn brought him world fame. Mark Twain's real name was Samuel Clemens. He took his penname from the words "to mark" and "twain" which were used by leadsmen on the steamboats to mark the depth of two fathoms. 
Mark Twain's stories enjoy widespread popularity. His characters are always well-drawn, his stories are true-to-life and the plots of his stories are skillfully built up. 
Many years have passed since Mark Twain's death, but even now we enjoy reading his works. Besides being a humorist, Mark Twain is also a realist — the author of biting satires and bitterly critical pages revealing a good deal of the truth about American way of life.

Jack London

Jack London was born in 1876 in San Francisco. His real name was John Griffit. His father was a farmer. The family was extremely poor and the boy had to earn his living after school. He sold newspapers, worked at a factory. Later he became a sailor; during some time he wandered with the unemployed. 
For a year he attended the Oakland High school and spent a semester at the University of California, but as he had no money he had to stop his studies and went to work again. 
This time it was a laundry. In 1897 he went to the Klondike as a gold miner. His first short story was published in 1898. 
Some of the difficulties he met during the first years of his literary work are described in his novel "Martin Eden". 
During the sixteen years of his literary career Jack London published about fifty books: short stories, novels and essays. In his best stories London described the severe life and struggle of people against nature. He died at the age of forty in 1916.

Conan Doyle

Many years ago a young doctor began to write stories about a man who was a detective. Readers liked his stories because they were very interesting and the doctor decided to become a writer. The doctor was Conan Doyle and he wrote about Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle wrote his first story about Sherlock Holmes in 1887. In this story the detective meets his friend Dr. Watson. Holmes and Watson lived at 221 В Baker Street in London. 
Many discussions take place about where 221 В was. There is no house there now. But a large company has its office near the place. This company answers twenty or so letters which still come every week to Sherlock Holmes, 221 В Baker Street. Most come from the United States and many people ask if Mr. Holmes can help them with some problem. 
The company answers saying that, "Mr. Sherlock Holmes is no longer working as a detective". There is a pub in London called Sherlock Holmes. One of the rooms in the pub is Sherlock Holmes* room. It has many things the room in Conan Doyle's stories had — Holmes' hat, some letters written to Sherlock Holmes, chairs and tables like those described in the stories. Besides, there are some pictures of Holmes and Conan Doyle, of actors who played Holmes and Watson in films, on television and radio.

In 1961 lovers of Sherlock Holmes formed the Sherlock Holmes Society. They meet three or four times a year to talk about Sherlock Holmes. The members of the Society know the stories about Sherlock Holmes very well, and they discuss these stories at their meetings.

James Aldridge

James Aldridge was born in 1918, in the town of Swanhill, in Australia. His father was a journalist and writer. His parents came to Australia from England only a few years before James was born. When James was 14 years old, he began to work as a messenger boy for a newspaper in Melbourne. In 1939 he went to England to enter the Oxford University. In 1940 he was sent to Finland as a war correspondent. In the years of the second World War Aldridge was a war correspondent and visited Norway, Greece, Egypt, Iran and other countries. During 1944—1945 he visited Russia three times, living there for nearly a year. He saw how people fought against the fascist invaders. Aldridge's first novel "Signed with Treir Honour" was published in 1942. In this novel he described the heroic struggle of the Greek people with the fascist invaders and internal reaction. His novel "The Sea Eagle", published in 1944 tells us about the people of Crete and their fight against fascists. Aldridge's books are devoted to the liberation struggle in the years of the Second World War. 
Aldridge was awarded the Gold Medal of Peace for the book "The Diplomat" in 1953. This book shows the peace loving policy of the USSR in contrast with the policy of "cold war", which the imperialist countries followed at that time. 
"The Last Inch" was written in 1957 and translated into Russian the same .year, while the first English edition came out in 1960. 
For many years James Aldridge has been a fighter for peace among nations.

Jules Verne

Jules Verne was born in 1828 in Prance. Young Jules was interested in machinery, sailing and writing. Together with his brother Paul, he explored the river near their home in an old sailboat. Jules' father was a lawyer and he wanted his son to continue his career. So Jules was sent to Paris to study law. Jules, however, decided soon that his main interest was writing. He joined the club of scientific writers. This group was interested in balloons so Jules soon wrote an adventure story called "Five Weeks in a Balloon". His favorite subject at school was geography, so he wanted to describe in his books as many parts of the world as possible. 
Jules Verne's books are still popular now because they are good adventure stories. But in his books Verne also forecast many inventions that we have now. He believed that someday people would have airplanes, submarines, television, dirigibles and powerful weapons.

His most popular books are "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea" and "Around the World in Eighty Days". Verne had a notebook where he wrote every idea or bit of information he came across that might be useful for his books. In his study he had a large map of the world with all routes of his heroes marked on it.

During his life, Jules Verne had written more then 50 books. He died at the age of 77.

Pushkin And Our Time

It would be a platitude to say that A. S. Pushkin is the greatest Russian poet. But I hope no-one is challenging the view that he occupies an outstanding place in Russian literature and culture. Every summer in June, thousands of people visit the Pskov land. They come here to the village of Mikhailovskoye to the wonderful festival of poetry, to see the places where he lived and worked. 
Pushkin is always alive for us, he is the man we all know and love, the greatest of poets. Generations come and go, but Pushkin still remains. We are all grateful to Pushkin for each line of his works. Pushkin is not only a great poet for us. He is the perfect man combining brilliant talent with civil courage and moral integrity. His name is associated with our love for the Motherland, and the best in our life.

Hundreds of new concepts, hundreds of new words have appeared in the language in the years that have passed since his death, but not a single word of his poetry has become obsolete. The old forms of life went into the past, but everything written by Pushkin continues to live. It has not become something of the past, it does not need any corrections and hardly needs commentary. His feelings and his views still correspond to our own feelings and views. We admire the great world of Pushkin's poetry as a whole, each of us finding some special lines for himself, lines showing Pushkin's great and generous heart, his sympathy and respect for his people. Whatever Pushkin's work we see portrayal of Russian life, the Russian intellect, the Russian soul, the life of the Russian land in all epochs, the Russian people. The reader cannot imagine his inner world without him.

Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh was born in Holland in 1853. Before becoming a painter he was a teacher. He started painting when he was twenty-seven. In 1886 he left Holland and joined his young brother Theo, who lived in Paris. Here he painted some of his most famous pictures. After living there for two years he moved to the South of France, because the climate was warmer there. 
But Van Gogh was mentally ill. During one of his fits of madness he attacked his friend, the artist Paul Gaugin. In another fit of madness, he cut off part of his own ear. Eventually he went into a mental hospital but he didn't get any better. Finally, on Sunday 27th July 1890, in the small village Vincent Van Gogh took a gun. He went into a cornfield and shot himself. Thirty-six hours later Van Gogh died in his brother's arms. His last words were: "I hope I did it properly". Nobody has ever painted cornfields or sunflowers like Van Gogh. His paintings are full of color and sunlight. 
Today his paintings are worth millions of pounds but in his lifetime he only sold one.

Wolfgang Mozart

Wolfgang Mozart is a famous Austrian composer. Mozart was born in 1756 in Salchburg, Austria. His father, a violinist and a composer, noticed wonderful talent of his son and taught him how to play musical instruments and to compose. 
Being 4 years old Mozart played the clavier. When he was 5 or 6 years old he started composing music. At the age of 8—9 Mozart created his first symphonies, and at the age of 10—11 his first creations for musical theatre. 
When he was 6 years old his father decided to take him and her sister to the big cities of Europe. Two children gave concerts in Germany, Austria, France, England, Switzerland. The audience was delighted to see such a small boy playing the clavier. When he was 14 he was invited to Italy. He could not imagine his life without music. By the age of 19 he was the author of ten major musical works. 
At the age of 26 he moved from his native town to Vienna. Though he didn't have a great success as a composer in Vienne, Mozart wrote many songs, serenades, symphonies. Burdens of life, poverty and desease speeded up his death. He died at the age of 35. The real fame came to Mozart only after his death. Many people now know and like his music.

Mikhail Lomonosov

Mikhail Lomonosov was born in 1711 in Archangelsk province. His father was a fisher and young Mikhail liked to help him. He always strove for knowledge and liked reading books. As he was 19 years old, he decided to study in Moscow. He went there on foot. In Moscow he entered the Slavic- Greek-Latin Academy. After his graduation from Academy he was sent abroad to complete his knowledge in chemistry and mining. After he had returned from abroad, he became the first Russian professor of chemistry in 1745. 
At first he was engaged in research in physics and chemistry. Since 1748 he had conducted works in the first Russian chemical research laboratory, which was built at his request. Since 1753 he was engaged in research in many fields of natural and applied sciences. He wrote works on physics, astronomy, geography, history. Besides scientific works, he wrote poems as well. He is the author of the first scientifical grammar of the Russian language. 
He founded the factory producing colored glass. He created some mosaics using the glass produced at the factory. 
Lomonosov was the founder of the first Russian university. This university is situated in Moscow and still carries his name. 
Mikhail Lomonosov died in 1765. But he is still known as the father of the Russian science, an outstanding poet, the founder of Russian literature.

Isaac Newton

Newton, one of the greatest scientists of all times was born in 1642 in the little village in Lincolnshire, England. His father was a farmer and died before Newton was born. His mother was a clever woman whom he always loved. 
After the school, Newton studied mathematics at Cambridge university and received his degree in 1665. Then the university was closed because of the danger of plague and Newton went home for eighteen months. It was most important period in his life when he made his three great discoveries — the discoveries of the differential calculuses, of the nature of white light, and of the law of gravitation. 
These discoveries are still important for the modern science. Newton had always been interested in the problems of light. Many people saw colours of a rainbow but only Newton showed, by his experiments, that white light consists of these colours. 
It is interesting how he discovered the law gravitation. Once, as he sat at the garden, his attention was drawn by the fall of an apple. Many people saw such an usual thing before. But it was Newton who asked himself a question: "Why does that apple fall perpendicularly to the ground? Why doesn't it go sideward or upwards?" The answer to this question was the theory of gravitation, discovered by Newton. 
Newton died at the age of 84, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, where his monument stands today.

Michael Faraday

Michael Faraday is one of the great scientists in the history of man's work in electricity. He was born in a small village near London on September 11, 1791, in a poor family. His family lived from hand to mouth. At the age of thirteen Michael went to work in a bookbinder's shop, because he didn't have much schooling. Some of the scientific works and articles which passed through his hands aroused his interest in science and he started to read. Some time later Michael became a pupil of great scientist of that time, Sir Humphry Davy. The boy accompanied Davy in his trips to Europe. The educational value of such trips Was great. Among great men of science Faraday met Ampere, who had already made a name for himself in the history of electricity. 
Today almost all the electricity we use is. generated by great machines with magnets in them, but in those days no one knew how to do it. That's why the English scientist danced with delight on his table when he got what he wanted by moving the magnet near wire. This was a great moment in the history of man's electrical experiments. But Faraday didn't stop at this. 
Faraday's scientific interests were varied. He made new kind of glass and a new kind of steel. Faraday made about two thousand difficult experiments and made countless discoveries in chemistry and physics. He made a wonderful machine which was the father of all the great machines that make electricity today. They light and heat our houses and they make our radio-sets work. Michael Faraday was the creator of the electric motor, who ushered us in the electrical age which had changed the face of the earth.

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison was born in 1847. He first went to school at the age of eight and a half. But after only three months his teacher called him "stupid" and he came home crying. From that time his mother taught him at home and he read science books by himself. He got a job sending telegraph messages. Then he started inventing things. At the age of 12 he had a job selling newspapers. He made money in a clever but simple way. He checked the news stories first. When the news was interesting he took a lot of papers; when it was boring he took only few. In 1877 he made a "phonograph" — the first ever sound recorder. The following year he invented the light bulb. In 1882 New York was the first city in the world with electric lights. In 1889 he made a "kinetoscope". He also made films for his new machine. In 1903 he made the world's longest film (It was ten minutes long!) After more than one thousand inventions, Edison died at the age of eighty-four. In his honour they switched off the lights all over America.

Franklin And Jefferson

Benjamin Franklin was self-educated, which means that he was too poor to go to school and therefore got a good education. As a boy he helped his father to make candles, which were thought to look more romantic that electric lights. When he was twelve Benjamin was so interested in reading that he gave up eating in order to buy books. Franklin was a plump, well-rounded man who invented almost as many things as Jefferson, including silkworms, the Franklin stove, and bifocals. He also made it possible for congressmen to send their letters free, which later became as the Franklin Privilege. When Franklin was seventy, he was sent to Paris to see what he could do to improve relations with the French, and he is said to have done extremely well despite his age. 
Thomas Jefferson is best known as the author of Declaration of Independence, which is responsible for two holidays: July Fourth and Declaration Day. Although he was the author of this important document, he failed to secure a copyright. Jefferson was not only a statesman but an inventor. His many inventions include dumb-waiter. An extremely versatile person, he was also an architect. Jefferson made a great contribution to American political philosophy. He believed that all men are created equal. Deeply religious, Jefferson was for a time a minister to France. In his spare time he was a farmer and an aristocrat.

Sergei Pavlovich Korolyov

Academician S. P. Korolyov is a famous scientist and founder of practical cosmonautics. He was the chief constructor of the first Earth sputniks and spaceships. S. P. Korolyov was born in 1906 in the small Ukrainian town of Zhitomir into a family of teachers. He spent his childhood with his grandparents in the town of Nezhin where he studied at home with a teacher. In 1922, at the age of 15, Sergei Korolyov began to study at a vocational building school in Odessa, where he received his secondary education and became a builder. 
He was interested in mathematics, literature and he read a great deal. All his life he loved music. In 1923 Sergei Korolyov joined a Glider Pilots' Club, where he learned to construct gliders and to fly them. In 1925 Korolyov entered the Kiev Polytechnical Institute where he studied aviation and mathematics, but in the evening he had to work for money: he was a building worker, he worked at the post-office and he played very small roles in films. After two years in Kiev Korolyov came to Moscow. In the day-time he worked at an aeroplane factory and in the evening he studied at the Moscow Higher Technical School. After lectures he worked at home on the design of a new glider. At the Moscow Higher Technical School Korolyov learned about К. Е. Tsiolkovsky's ideas on space travell and about his rocket. 
In 1930 S. P. Korolyov graduated from the Moscow Higher Technical School and became an aviation engineer. At the same time he finished the Moscow Pilot School. During the Great Patriotic War S. P. Korolyov constructed a jet engine for aeroplanes and rockets. 
On October 4, 1957 the first man-made sputnik of the Earth was launched into space. It was the result of thirty years hard work and Chief Constructor was S. P. Korolyov. Then dogs were sent into space and only after a lot of experiments the first cosmonaut in the world — Y. A. Gagarin launched into space in the spaceship "Vostok" on April 12, 1961. After this there were many other longer and more difficult flights. Then followed rockets to the Moon, Mars and Venus. 
S. P. Korolyov died in 1966. For his brilliant work in the name of science and progress he was awarded two Gold Stars of the Hero of Socialist Labour. 
People will always remember the names of those who opened a new era in the conquest of outer space, and the name of S. P. Korolyov is one of them.

Yuri Gagarin

April 12, 1961 will never be forgotten. On that day Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin was launched into space. He circled the globe in the spaceship "Vostok" for 108 minutes. Gagarin was taking an enormous risk, because at that time nobody knew how a human being would stand up to space flight. Before Yuri Gagarin was launched into outer space he met the people who had prepared the rocket. He thanked them for their work and said he would do everything he could to make his flight successful. Yuri was in great spirits. The cosmonauts spent the evening at a cottage which is now called the Yuri Gagarin Memorial Cottage. Then he had one more normal working day which was worked out to the minute: morning exercises, breakfast, medical examination, putting on the spacesuit, checking the suit, leaving for the launching site and so on. Yuri Gagarin's flight opened the door into the Universe Those 108 minutes were a turning-point in history. The dreams of generations, the ideas of science-fiction writers and thinkers were brilliantly realized by our contemporaries. Yuri Gagarin's name has become a legend, a symbol of heroism in the name of science and progress. Yuri Gagarin visited 30 countries. Everywhere he was given a fantastic welcome as the dearest person. He was the same modest man with workers or generals, with employees or with kings and prime ministers. His life was simple like thousands of others: schoolboy, vocational school student, fighter pilot, husband, father of two children. He was a part of our whole life. But the words "Gagarin character" have become a symbol of will-power, fearlessness, purity. 
Gagarin's "space" biography began at a lecture about the work of Tsiolkovsky. Then, he fell ill with a disease that has no name in medicine: an irresistible desire to go up into the sky, a desire to fly. The Saratov Air Club, the Orenburg Air Pilots School, service in Air Force units in the North, and the Cosmonaut Graining Centre in 1960. The dawn of the space age was breaking over the planet. The first group was made up of strong young men, professional airmen, clever, purposeful, prepared to take risks and work hard. Why did the choice fall on him? " Yuri Gagarin", said E. A. Karpov, one of the instructors of the first group of cosmonauts, "possessed all the important qualifications: devoted patriotism, complete faith in the success of the flight, excellent health, optimism, a quick mind, courage and resolution, self control, orderliness, industriousness, simplicity, modesty, great human warmth and attentiveness to others". 
Yuri Gagarin was deeply engaged in public and political activity, but he could not stand aside from training his friends for new flights. He gave all his knowledge and enthusiasm to the preparation for each new flight. He taught others and studied himself. He dreamed of the time when spaceships would undertake interplanetary flights and he would be on board of them. For the sake of this dream Yuri Gagarin worked and lived. On March 27, 1968, Yuri Gagarin was killed in an air crash. He was 34. On that day we lost a man of remarkable courage and spiritual beauty. It was impossible to say what a man's life would have been like if he remained alive. Gagarin had talent. He put his whole soul, all his strength into "cosmic work". His name will remain immortal in the history of mankind, in the history of the Earth, which he affectionately called the Blue Planet.