Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The novelist, poet, short story writer and doctor Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born on 22nd May 1859 in Edinburgh, Scotland into the family of an Englishman Charles Altamont Doyle and Irish descendant née Mary Foley. The most admired work of Arthur Conan Doyle still continues to be Sherlock Holmes, a classic in the field of crime fiction. Besides this Arthur Conan Doyle is also remembered for his stories on the adventures of the science fictional character Professor Challenger.
Conan Doyle studied at the Roman Catholic Jesuit preparatory school in Stonyhurst followed by Stonyhurst College till 1875. In 1876 Conan Doyle enrolled in the University of Edinburgh to pursue medicine and completed his internship in the city of Aston. During his studies, Conan Doyle simultaneously wrote short stories which were first published in Chambers’ s Edinburgh Journal. In 1885, Conan Doyle did his doctorate in tabes dorsalis a topic covering symptomatic degeneration of nerve cells.
In 1882, Arthur Conan Doyle joined his classmate George Budd in Plymouth for medical practice but soon left him for independent practice in Portsmouth. Initially the practice was minimal allowing Arthur Conan Doyle ample time to write stories. Doyle's first major work was A Study in Scarlet, featured in 1887 Beeton’s Christmas Annual.
During his stay in Southsea, Arthur Conan Doyle played football for Portsmouth Association Football Club and cricket for the MCC. Also as a keen golfer who captained Crowborough Beacon Golf Club based at East Sussex in the year 1910.
In 1885, Conan Doyle married Louisa Hawkins who died from tuberculosis on 4th July 1906. They had 2 children namely Mary Louise and Arthur Alleyne Kingsley. In 1907, Conan married Jean Elizabeth Leckie whom he met in 1897 but had maintained a platonic relationship. They later had three children namely Denis Percy Stewart, Adrian Malcolm and Jean Lena Annette.
In 1890, Doyle studied physiology of the human eye in Vienna and in the subsequent year relocated to London in order to practice ophthalmology. His practice as an ophthalmologist was minimal, once again allowing him ample time to concentrate on his writings. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ended Sherlock Holmes life in a waterfall in the story titled "The Final Problem" but his followers demanded him back forcing Arthur Conan Doyle to force life into Sherlock Holmes like a true physician. Sherlock Holmes reappeared in the Story titled “The Adventure of the Empty House”. Holmes was ultimately featured in 4 novels and fifty six short stories.
Conan Doyle died of a heart attack on the 7th July 1930 at ”Windlesham”, Crowborough and is buried in the Church Yard at Minstead in Hampshire, England. Sir Arthur's last words were dedicated to his wife: "You are wonderful." A statue of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is at Crowborough Cross in East Sussex, England, where he lived for 23 years. Sherlock Holmes's statue is also honoured in Picardy Place, Edinburgh, Scotland, near to Sir Arthur's birth place.