Arthur Conan Doyle

Scottish writer best known as the creator of the modern detective story, and of the characters Sherlock Holmes and his colleague Dr. Watson. Studying at Edinburgh University, he received his medical degree in 1885 and practiced medicine until 1891, before devoting his time to his literary work. His first publication was in 1879 but he did not receive any recognition until "A Study in Scarlet" was released in 1887. Besides his great achievements in the history of detective fiction, he is also noted for historical romances. He was knighted in 1902.

The son of a civil servant who worked hard to support his brood of seven kids, Conan Doyle escaped the family domestic tension by reading for hours. He was a student at Stonyhurst Jesuit school, noted for its discipline, followed by a year of study in Austria. When he came home to enroll at Edinburgh University's school of medicine, he was met by the sad spectacle of his dad, broken by depression, epilepsy and alcoholism. His dad was institutionalized for the rest of his life, causing great sorrow and hardship for the family.

Upon graduation, Conan Doyle served for a seven-month voyage as ship's doctor on an Arctic whaler. His income helped the family but it was almost more of an adventure than he could handle. He nearly died of typhoid fever, fought a ship's fire and had a close call in meeting a shark. Back on dry land, he resolved to stay there and opened a practice in Portsmouth, England. Conan Doyle was beginning the dark periods of depression, like his father, that plagued him the rest of his life.

As his practice built slowly, Conan Doyle filled his time with sports; cricket, rugby, golfing, boxing, billiards, as well as writing. His first short story was published in 1879 while he was still in school, but he primarily wrote as a diversion.

Conan Doyle married his first wife, Louise Hawkins, in 1885 and their daughter Mary Louise was born two years later.