Arthur Conan Doyle
1859–1930
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Arthur Conan Doyle was a Scottish physician who turned to writing to supplement his struggling medical practice. In 1887 he published A Study in Scarlet, introducing the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr Watson.
Holmes became a phenomenon when his short stories began appearing in The Strand Magazine in July 1891. Doyle grew so tired of his creation that he killed Holmes off at the Reichenbach Falls in 1893 — only to resurrect him a decade later under overwhelming public demand.
Beyond Holmes he wrote historical novels and science fiction, and became a passionate advocate of spiritualism in later life. Knighted in 1902, he remains the founding father of the modern detective story.
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