Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15,1452, to a woman named Caterina, who may have been one of this father's servants. Leonardo's father, Ser Perio, lived in Vinci, a small town close to the city of Florence, in what is now Italy. The name of the town gave Leonardo his last name: the da in da Vinci means of. Ser Perio was a wealthy notary.