b. May 22, 1859, Edinburgh
d. July 7, 1930, Crowborough, Sussex, Eng.

A writer who is best known for his creation of the detective Sherlock Holmes--one of the most vivid characters in English fiction. Holmes's friend, the good-hearted but comparatively obtuse Dr. Watson, and the detective's principal enemy, the archcriminal Professor Moriarty, also have taken on an uncanny life that persists beyond the page. In New York the Baker Street Irregulars and in London the Sherlock Holmes Society peruse Holmesiana with a cultist fervour, and similar groups exist on the Continent. The brilliantly eccentric hero, in deerstalker or dressing gown, has been portrayed in a variety of media and has put the author's other works--chiefly historical romances--somewhat in the shade.

Conan Doyle practiced medicine until 1891 after graduating from the University of Edinburgh, and the character of Holmes, who first appeared in A Study in Scarlet (1887), partly derives from a teacher at Edinburgh noted for his deductive reasoning. Short stories about Holmes began to appear regularly in the Strand Magazine in 1891 and later made up several collections, including The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892), The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1893), The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905), and The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927). Conan Doyle wearied of him and devised his death in 1893--only to be forced by public demand to restore him ingeniously to life. The other Holmes novels include The Mystery of Cloomber (1889), The Sign of Four (1890), The Doings of Raffles Haw (1892), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902), and The Valley of Fear (1915).

Conan Doyle was knighted in 1902 for his work with a field hospital in Bloemfontein, S.Af., and for other activities concerning the South African (Boer) War. After the death of his son from wounds incurred in World War I, he dedicated himself to the cause of spiritualism.