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Brief biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, famous for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes and Mr. Watson, Holmes's friend.
Sir Conan Doyle, Scottish crime writer, is best known as the creator of the detective Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Holmes's partner in solving amateur crimes. Doyle was also a writer of historical romances, science fiction, and poetry. Except for Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, perhaps Sherlock Holmes is the most famous fictional detective of all time. Early Life of Arthur Conan DoyleBorn of Irish parentage, Arthur Conan Doyle was born on May 22, 1859, in Edinburgh, Scotland, of Irish-Catholic prosperous family. Still in his 20s and during his medical studies, he was offered the post of ship's surgeon on a whaling boat named 'Hope' going for the South Seas. This arctic adventure found its way as a basis of his chilling tale Captain of the Pale-Star, his first story about the sea. Conan Doyle returned to his medical studies in 1880. The following years, he divided his time between being a doctor and a writer waiting to be recognized. In 1885, he married an amiable young lady, Louisa Hawkins. Sherlock HolmesDoyle based part of Holmes's character – his wide knowledge and ability of deductive reasoning to the minutest clues – on some of the professors he met at university. Around 1891, Arthur Conan Doyle started writing mystery stories featuring the character Sherlock Holmes, a brilliant detective who uses reasoning to solve crimes that always stuns the police. The stories are told through the gentle and kindly Dr. Watson, Holmes's good-natured friend. They solve crimes for fun and not for money and share living quarters in Baker Street in London. The success of the Sherlock Holmes stories gave Conan Doyle the chance to become a full-time writer at the age of 32. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes were serialized in the Strand Magazine and also published as books under such titles as The Sign of Four and The Hound of the Baskervilles. Later on, he began to grow tired of the series. At one point, he even tried to kill Sherlock Holmes in one of his stories. By this time the series had tremendous following and Conan Doyle was forced to bring back Holmes by popular demand. War Physician and KnighthoodConan Doyle served as a war physician during the Second Boer War, in 1899 to 1902. He wrote The War in South Africa, in 1902, justifying the action of Great Britain and earned a knighthood in 1902, at the age of 43. Final YearsConan Doyle converted to spiritualism. He died of heart attack in their family garden, on July 7, 1930, at the age of 71. Major Works by Doyle
For more about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, visit Official website of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Literary Estate Sources:Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una MgGovern, Chambers (2002) The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English, by Ian Ousby, CUP, (1993)
The copyright of the article Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Author in Great Writers is owned by Tel Asiado. Permission to republish Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Author in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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