Arthur Conan Doyle

For the page about the character based on the author, see Arthur Conan Doyle 

Career

Conan Doyle had his first story published in 1879, and began writing in earnest in 1882, though he had difficulty getting his work published. In 1886 his story A Study in Scarlet, the first appearance of his most famous character, Sherlock Holmes, was published. This novel proved popular, and he was commissioned to continue telling the adventures of Holmes. In 1893, tired of writing Holmes and wishing to dedicate himself to his other works, he wrote the death of the character in the story "The Final Problem". The detective's death prompted public outcry, and subsequent works achieved little success. In 1901 he wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles, a Holmes story set before the fatal encounter at the Reichenbach Falls. In 1903 he brought the character back to life in the first short story in ten years. In total he wrote 56 short stories and four novels based on Holmes. Most of these were published in the Strand Magazine. He is also notable for his historical fiction novels, which he began work on in 1888 and of which he published seven, his non-fiction works, on which he began work in 1900 and published fourteen, and his Challenger stories, which he began work on in 1912 and of which he published three novels and two short stories. He also published numerous other works, including plays, novels and short stories in a variety of genres. 

Personal Life

Born in 1858, Conan Doyle had an occasionally difficult and tumultuous upbringing due to his father's alcoholism. Nonetheless, he enjoyed good schooling due to the intervention of wealthy relatives. In 1876 he began attending the University of Edinburgh, where he studied medicine and became acquainted with the man who would later provide the model for Sherlock Holmes, Joseph Bell. He graduated in 1881, and found employment as a ship's surgeon before opening his own practice. In 1885 he married Louisa Hawkins, with whom he had two children. Louisa died in 1906. He married Jean Elizabeth Leckie the following year, and together the couple had three children. He predeceased his second wife, suffering a heart attack on July 7th, 1930 at the age of 71.