Alias of
William Shakespeare, the son of John Shakespeare, a dealer in
wool and
leather, who lived in Stratford-upon-Avon. In this little town standing on the banks of the River Avon in
Warwickshire, was born in April 1564, the boy who was to win
immortal fame as the world's great dramatist, the good friend of
nobles and the wonder of his and every age.
This gentle man of immeasurable
genius has, through the hundreds of years since he died on 21 April, 1616, been unmatched as a
poet and
playwright.
Often referred to in the words of his great friend Ben Jonson as "The Swan of Avon," William Shakespear is
England's greatest gift to the
literature of the world.