Shakespeare was born on 23 April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon in England. His father was a successful glove-maker and a farmer. His mother was the daughter of a farmer. Shakespeare was the third child in the family and he had seven brothers and sisters.

This is Shakespeare's birthplace in Henley street. His father kept his shop in this house in Stratford- upon-Avon. His eight children were born here. You can see the modest room in this house where William was born. It has dark furniture and small windows Their cottage and the furniture are reconstructed and you forget things are really old

William got a very good education. He was educated at the King's New School in Stratford. The school provided an intensive education in Latin grammar and the classics.

At the age of 18 Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway. She was 26. She liked going to the church, but disliked singing and dancing. She believed that theater and actors were very bad. She gave birth to three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith.

In 1587 William went to work in London, leaving Anne and the children at home. Since then he devoted all his life to acting, writing plays and to the Globe Theatre.

In 1613 he stopped writing and went to live in Stratford. He died on 23 April 1616, just on the day of his birthday Probably, he was very ill. You can see the place where he rests in the church not far from the house where he was born