Sherlock Holmes' author was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930). Doyle
was born in Scotland on May 22, 1859, to an English father and an Irish
Catholic mother. At university, Doyle studied medicine under Professor
Dr. Joseph Bell. Doyle was also starting to develop his literary career.
Doyle worked as a doctor for a time but struggled to get his practice
off the ground and found he was more interested in writing. In 1887, he
published the first novel featuring Sherlock Holmes, called A Study in
Scarlet. The book was wildly popular, prompting Doyle to write short
stories that also featured Sherlock Holmes. Over time, Doyle grew tired
of writing about Holmes and killed off the character. There was such an
extraordinary and prolonged negative reaction to this decision that
Doyle was eventually forced to resurrect Holmes and continue writing
about him. The period of time between Sherlock's death and resurrection
is commonly known as the Great Hiatus.
Doyle's disdain for his own character led him to ask for and receive
unusually high payment for his writing. In addition to the Holmes
stories, Doyle also wrote extensively about Spiritualism and wrote
dozens of other works of fiction, including a series about a hot-headed
character called Professor Challenger. While Doyle's other works
survive, they are far less famous than his stories about Sherlock
Holmes. Doyle married twice and had several children. He died of a heart
attack on July 7, 1930, at the age of 71.
