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.