Leonardo da Vinci is one of the greatest geniuses of all time.
He was a painter, an architect, an engineer and a scientist.
He was born in Vinci, Italy in 1452.
Vinci is a town just outside of the great Italian city, Florence.
His name, da Vinci, means "of Vinci".
Leonardo’s father was a lawyer and landowner, and his mother was a peasant.
Leonardo’s parents were never married to each other.
Leonardo lived with his mother until he was around 5 years old.
When he was 5, he moved into the home of his father.
By then his father had married a 16-year-old girl.
Leonardo’s mother married another man and moved to another town.
She had many more children after that, with several different men.
In the end, Leonardo had more than 15 half-sisters and brothers.
As a young man, Da Vinci didn’t go to school.
He was educated at home in reading, writing and mathematics.
In other subjects, he was mostly self-educated.
He had access to books at his father’s home.
Leonardo spent a lot of time outdoors and developed a strong interest in nature.
He loved to observe things, especially birds.
He was also interested in the properties of water.
