His last words before his death were addressed to his wife. He whispered, "You are wonderful."
Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born on May 22, 1859 in the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh, on Picardy Place, in the family of an artist and architect. His father Charles Altamont Doyle married at the age of twenty-two to Mary Foley, a young woman of seventeen in 1855. Mary Doyle had a passion for books and was the main storyteller in the family, and Arthur later remembered her very touchingly. Unfortunately, Arthur's father was chronic alcoholic and therefore the family was sometimes in poverty, although he was, according to his son, very talented artist. As a child, Arthur read a lot, having completely varied interests. His favorite author was Mayne Reid, and his favorite book was "Scalp Hunters".
After Arthur reached the age of nine, wealthy members of the Doyle family offered to pay for his education. For seven years he had to go to the Jesuit boarding school in England at Hodder - preparatory school for Stonyhurst (a large boarding Catholic school in Lancashire). Two years later he moved from Arthur Hodder to Stonyhurst. Seven subjects were taught there: the alphabet, counting, basic rules, grammar, syntax, poetry, and rhetoric. The food there was rather meager and did not have much variety, which nevertheless did not affect health. Physical punishment were harsh. Arthur was often exposed to them at that time. The instrument of punishment was a piece of rubber, the size and shape of a thick galosh, which was used to hit the hands.
It was during these difficult years at boarding school that Arthur realized that he had a talent for writing stories, so he was often surrounded by a congregation of admiring young students listening amazing stories, which he composed to amuse them. On last year teaching, he publishes a college magazine and writes poetry. In addition, he was involved in sports, mainly cricket, in which he achieved good results. He goes to Germany to Feldkirch to study German, where he will continue to play sports with passion: football, stilt football, sledding. In the summer of 1876, Doyle was traveling home, but on the way he stopped in Paris, where he lived for several weeks with his uncle. Thus, in 1876, he was educated and ready to face the world and wished to make up for some of the shortcomings of his father, who had by then become insane.
The traditions of the Doyle family dictated that he follow an artistic career, but still Arthur decided to take up medicine. This decision was made under the influence of Dr. Brian Charles, a young boarder whom Arthur's mother took in to help make ends meet. Dr. Waller was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and so Arthur decided to study there. In October 1876, Arthur became a student at the medical university, having previously encountered another problem - not receiving the scholarship he deserved, which he and his family so needed. While studying, Arthur met many future authors, such as James Barry and Robert Louis Stevenson, who attended the university. But his greatest influence was one of his teachers, Dr. Joseph Bell, who was a master of observation, logic, inference and error detection. In the future, he served as the prototype for Sherlock Holmes.
While studying, Doyle tried to help his family and earned money in his free time from studying, which he found through more accelerated study of disciplines. He worked both as a pharmacist and as an assistant to various doctors...
Doyle reads a lot and two years after the start of his education, Arthur decided to try his hand at literature. In 1879 he writes short story The Mystery of Sasassa Valley in Chamber's Journal. In the same year, he published his second story, The American Tale, in the London Society magazine and realized that this way he too could make money. His father's health deteriorated and he was placed in a psychiatric hospital, so Thus, Doyle becomes the sole breadwinner of his family. Twenty years old, while studying in his third year at university, in 1880, Doyle was offered the position of surgeon on the whaler "Hope" under the command of John Gray in the Northern Arctic Circle. First, "Nadezhda" stopped near the shores of the island of Greenland, where the crew began hunting seals. Young medical student was shocked by the brutality of it. But at the same time, he enjoyed the camaraderie on board the ship and the subsequent whale hunt that fascinated him. This adventure found its way into his first sea story, the frightening tale Captain of the Pole-Star. Without much enthusiasm, Conan Doyle returned to his studies in the fall of 1880, sailing in total 7 months, earning about £50.
In 1881, he graduated from the University of Edinburgh, where he received a bachelor's degree in medicine and a master's degree in surgery, and began to look for a place to work. This resulted in a position as ship's doctor on the Mayuba, which sailed between Liverpool and west coast Africa and on October 22, 1881, the next voyage began. While swimming he found Africa as disgusting as the Arctic was seductive. Therefore, he leaves the ship and moves to England to Plymouth, where he works together with a certain Cullingworth, whom he met on final courses studying in Edinburgh, namely from the late spring to the early summer of 1882, for 6 weeks. (These first years of practice are well described in his book “Letters from Stark Monroe.”) But disagreements arose and after them Doyle left for Portsmouth (July 1882), where he opened his first practice, located in a house for 40 pounds per annum, which began to bring income only by the end of the third year. Initially there were no clients and therefore Doyle has the opportunity to devote his free time literature. He writes stories: “Bones”, “Bloomensdyke Ravine”, “My Friend is a Murderer”, which he published in the magazine “London Society” in the same 1882. In order to somehow help his mother, Arthur invites his brother Innes to stay with him, who brightens up the gray everyday life of an aspiring doctor from August 1882 to 1885 (Innes goes to study at a boarding school in Yorkshire). During these years, the young man is torn between literature and medicine. During his medical practice, there were also deaths of patients. One of them is the death of the son of a widow from Gloucestershire. But this incident allows him to meet her daughter Louise Hawkins (Hawkins), whom he marries in August 1885.
After his marriage, Doyle was actively involved in literature and wanted to make it his profession. It is published in Cornhill magazine. His stories come out one after another: “The Message of Hebekuk Jephson,” “The Long Oblivion of John Huxford,” “The Ring of Thoth.” But stories are stories, and Doyle wants more, he wants to be noticed, and for this he needs to write something more serious. And in 1884 he wrote the book “Girdlestones Trading House”. But to his great regret, the book was never published. In March 1886, Conan Doyle began writing a novel that would lead to his popularity. It was originally called A Tangled Skein. Two years later, this novel was published in Beeton's Christmas Annual for 1887 under the title A Study in Scarlet. purple tones), who introduced readers to Sherlock Holmes (prototypes: Professor Joseph Bell, writer Oliver Holmes) and Doctor Watson (prototype Major Wood), who soon became famous. As soon as Doyle sent off this book, he began a new one, and at the beginning of 1888 he finished Mickey Clark, which was published in February 1889 by Longman. Doyle meets Oscar Wilde and rides the wave positive feedback“The White Squad” writes about “Mickey Clark” in 1889.
Despite his literary success and thriving medical practice, harmonious life Conan Doyle's family, expanded by the birth of his daughter Mary, was restless. At the end of 1890, under the influence of the German microbiologist Robert Koch and even more Malcolm Robert, he decides to leave his practice in Portsmouth and goes with his wife to Vienna, leaving his daughter Mary with her grandmother, where he wants to specialize in ophthalmology in order to later find work in London, but faced with a specialized German language and after studying for 4 months in Vienna he realizes that his time was wasted. During his studies, he wrote the book “The Acts of Raffles Howe”, in Doyle’s opinion “... not a very significant thing...” In the spring of the same year, Doyle visited Paris and hastily returned to London, where he opened a practice on Upper Wimpole Street. The practice was not successful (there were no patients), but at that time they wrote short stories, in particular, for the Strand magazine he writes stories about Sherlock Holmes." With the help of Sidney Paget, the image of Holmes is created and the stories are published in The Strand magazine. In May 1891, Doyle falls ill with the flu and is near death for several days. When he recovered, he decided to leave medical practice and devote himself to literature.This happens in August 1891.
In 1892, while living in Norwood, Louise gave birth to a son, they named him Kingsley (Kingsley). Doyle writes the story “Survivor of '15,” which is successfully staged in many theaters. Sherlock Holmes continued to weigh on Doyle and a year later, in 1993, after his trip with his wife to Switzerland and a visit to the Reichenbach Falls, despite everyone's requests, the surprisingly prolific but very impulsive author decided to get rid of Sherlock Holmes. As a result, twenty thousand subscribers refused to subscribe to The Strand magazine, and Doyle writes the best novels, in his opinion: “Exiles”, “The Great Shadow”. Now freed from his medical career and from the fictional hero who oppressed him and obscured what he considered more important. Conan Doyle absorbs himself into more intense activity. This frenzied life may explain why the previous doctor was oblivious to his wife's serious deterioration in health.
Over time, he finally learned that Louise was diagnosed with tuberculosis (consumption) and assumes that their joint trip to Switzerland was the reason for this. Although she was given only a few months, Doyle began his belated departure and managed to delay her death for 10 years, from 1893 to 1906. He and his wife move to Davos, located in the Alps. In Davos, Doyle is actively involved in sports, and begins writing stories about Brigadier Gerard, based mainly on the book “Memoirs of General Marbot”. He had long been attracted to Spiritualism, his joining the Society for Psychical Research being seen as a public statement of his interest and belief in the occult. Doyle is invited to give a series of lectures in the United States. In the late autumn of 1894, together with his brother Innes, who by that time was graduating from a private school in Richmond, Royal military school in Woolwich, becomes an officer, and goes to lecture in more than 30 cities in the United States. These lectures were a success, but Doyle himself was very tired of them. At the beginning of 1895, he returned to Davos to his wife, who by that time was feeling well. At the same time, The Strand magazine began publishing the first stories from Brigadier Gerard and immediately the magazine's number of subscribers increased.
In May 1914, Sir Arthur, along with Lady Conan Doyle and the children, goes to conduct an inspection National Nature Reserve in Jesier Park in the northern Rocky Mountains (Canada). On the way, he stops in New York, where he visits two prisons: Toombs and Sing Sing, where he examines the cells, the electric chair, and talks with prisoners. The author found the city unfavorably changed in comparison with his first visit to it twenty years earlier. Canada, where they spent some time, was found charming and Doyle regretted that its pristine grandeur would soon be gone. While in Canada, Doyle gives a number of lectures. They arrived home a month later, probably because for a long time, Conan Doyle had been convinced of the impending war with Germany. Doyle reads Bernardi's book "Germany and the Next War" and understands the seriousness of the situation and writes a response article, "England and the Next War", which was published in the Fortnightly Review in the summer of 1913. He sends numerous articles to newspapers about the upcoming war and military preparedness for it. But his warnings were regarded as fantasies. Realizing that England is only 1/6 self-sufficient, Doyle proposes to build a tunnel under the English Channel to provide itself with food in case of a blockade of England. submarines Germany. In addition, he proposes to provide all sailors in the navy with rubber rings (to keep their heads above water) and rubber vests. Few people listened to his proposal, but after another tragedy at sea it began mass implementation this idea. Before the start of the war (August 4, 1914), Doyle joined a detachment of volunteers, which was entirely civilian and was created in the event of an enemy invasion of England. During the war, Doyle also makes proposals for the protection of soldiers and as such he proposes something similar to armor, that is, shoulder pads, as well as plates that protect the most important organs. During the war, Doyle lost many people close to him, including his brother Innes, who by his death had risen to the rank of adjutant general of the corps, Kingsley's son from his first marriage, two cousins and two nephews.
On September 26, 1918, Doyle travels to the mainland to witness the battle that took place on September 28 on the French front. After such an amazingly full and constructive life, it is difficult to understand why such a person retreated into an imaginary world science fiction and spiritualism. The difference was that Conan Doyle was not a man who was satisfied with dreams and wishes; he needed to make them come true. He was manic and did it with the same dogged energy that he showed in all his endeavors when he was younger. As a result, the press laughed at him and the clergy did not approve of him. But nothing could hold him back. His wife does this with him.
After 1918, due to his deepening involvement in the occult, Conan Doyle wrote little fiction. Their subsequent trips to America (April 1, 1922, March 1923), Australia (August 1920) and Africa, accompanied by their three daughters, were also similar to mental ones. Crusades. As the years passed, having spent up to a quarter of a million pounds in pursuit of his secret dreams, Conan Doyle was faced with the need for money. In 1926 he wrote The Land of Mist, The Disintegration Machine, When The World Screamed. In the fall of 1929, he went on his last tour of Holland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. He was already sick with Angina Pectoris.
In 1930, already bedridden, he made his last journey. He rose from his bed and went into the garden. When he was found, he was on the ground, one of his hands was squeezing it, the other was holding a white snowdrop. Arthur Conan Doyle died on Monday, July 7, 1930, surrounded by his family. His last words before his death were addressed to his wife. He whispered, "You are wonderful." He is buried in Minstead Hampshire Cemetery.
On the writer’s grave are carved the words bequeathed to him personally:
"Don't remember me with reproach,
If you're interested in the story even a little
, librettist, screenwriter, science fiction writer, children's writer, crime writer
Biography
Childhood and youth
Arthur Conan Doyle was born into an Irish Catholic family known for its achievements in art and literature. The name Conan was given to him in honor of his mother’s uncle, artist and writer Michael Edward Conan. Father - Charles Altemont Doyle (1832-1893), an architect and artist, on July 31, 1855, at the age of 23, married 17-year-old Mary Josephine Elizabeth Foley (1837-1920), who passionately loved books and had a great talent as a storyteller. From her, Arthur inherited his interest in knightly traditions, exploits and adventures. " Real love to literature, my penchant for writing comes, I believe, from my mother,” Conan Doyle wrote in his autobiography. - “Vivid images of the stories she told me in early childhood, completely replaced in my memory memories of specific events in my life of those years.”
The family of the future writer experienced serious financial difficulties - solely because of the strange behavior of his father, who not only suffered from alcoholism, but also had an extremely unbalanced psyche. School life Arthur attended Godder Preparatory School. When the boy was nine years old, wealthy relatives offered to pay for his education and sent him for the next seven years to the Jesuit private college Stonyhurst (Lancashire), from where the future writer suffered hatred of religious and class prejudice, as well as physical punishment. The few happy moments of those years for him were associated with letters to his mother: he retained the habit of describing current events to her in detail throughout his life. later life. In total, about 1,500 letters from Arthur Conan Doyle to his mother have survived:6. In addition, at the boarding school, Doyle enjoyed playing sports, mainly cricket, and also discovered his talent as a storyteller, gathering peers around him who spent hours listening to stories made up on the go.
They say that while studying in college, Arthur's least favorite subject was mathematics, and he got it pretty bad from his fellow students - the Moriarty brothers. Later, Conan Doyle's memories of his school years led to the appearance of the image of a "genius" in the story "Holmes' Last Case" underworld" - Professor of Mathematics Moriarty.
In 1876, Arthur graduated from college and returned home: the first thing he had to do was rewrite his father’s papers in his name, who by that time had almost completely lost his mind. The writer subsequently spoke about the dramatic circumstances of Doyle Sr.’s imprisonment in a psychiatric hospital in the story “The Surgeon of Gaster Fell” (English: The Surgeon of Gaster Fell, 1880). Art studies (to which he was predisposed family tradition) Doyle chose a medical career - largely under the influence of Brian C. Waller, a young doctor to whom his mother rented a room in the house. Dr. Waller was educated at the University of Edinburgh: Arthur Doyle went there for further education. Future writers he met here included James Barry and Robert Louis Stevenson.
Beginning of a literary career
As a third-year student, Doyle decided to try his hand at the literary field. His first story, The Mystery of Sasassa Valley, influenced by Edgar Allan Poe and Bret Harte (his favorite authors at that time), was published by the university Chamber's Journal, where the first works of Thomas Hardy appeared. That same year, Doyle's second story " American history"(eng. The American Tale) appeared in the magazine London Society .
From February to September 1880, Doyle spent seven months as a ship's doctor in Arctic waters aboard the whaling ship Hope, receiving a total of 50 pounds for his work. “I boarded this ship as a big, clumsy youth, and walked down the gangway as a strong, grown man,” he later wrote in his autobiography. Impressions from the Arctic journey formed the basis of the story “Captain of the Pole-Star”. Two years later, he made a similar voyage to the West Coast of Africa on board the Mayumba, which sailed between Liverpool and the West Coast of Africa.
Having received a university diploma and a bachelor's degree in medicine in 1881, Conan Doyle began practicing medicine, first jointly (with an extremely unscrupulous partner - this experience was described in The Notes of Stark Munro), then individually, in Portsmouth. Finally, in 1891, Doyle decided to make literature his main profession. In January 1884 the magazine Cornhill published the story "The Message of Hebekuk Jephson." During those same days, he met his future wife, Louise "Tuya" Hawkins; the wedding took place on August 6, 1885.
In 1884, Conan Doyle began work on a social and everyday novel with a crime-detective plot, “Girdleston Trading House” about cynical and cruel money-grubbing merchants. The novel, clearly influenced by Dickens, was published in 1890.
In March 1886, Conan Doyle began - and by April had largely completed - work on A Study in Scarlet (originally intended to be titled A Tangled Skin, and the two main characters were named Sheridan Hope and Ormond Sacker). Ward, Locke & Co bought the rights to the novel for £25 and published it in their Christmas edition. Beeton's Christmas Annual 1887, inviting the writer's father Charles Doyle to illustrate the novel.
In 1889, Doyle's third (and perhaps strangest) novel, The Mystery of Cloomber, was published. The story of the “afterlife” of three vengeful Buddhist monks is the first literary evidence of the author’s interest in paranormal phenomena- subsequently made him a staunch follower of spiritualism.
Historical cycle
Arthur Conan Doyle. 1893
In February 1888, A. Conan Doyle completed work on the novel The Adventures of Micah Clarke, which told the story of the Monmouth Rebellion (1685), the purpose of which was to overthrow King James II. The novel was released in November and was warmly received by critics. From this moment onwards creative life Conan Doyle, a conflict arose: on the one hand, the public and publishers demanded new works about Sherlock Holmes; on the other hand, the writer himself increasingly sought to gain recognition as the author of serious novels (primarily historical ones), as well as plays and poems.
Conan Doyle's first serious historical work is considered to be the novel "The White Squad". In it, the author turned to a critical stage in the history of feudal England, taking as a basis a real historical episode of 1366, when there was a lull in the Hundred Years' War and “white detachments” of volunteers and mercenaries began to emerge. Continuing the war on French territory, they played a decisive role in the struggle of contenders for the Spanish throne. Conan Doyle used this episode for his own artistic purpose: he resurrected the life and customs of that time, and most importantly, presented knighthood, which by that time was already in decline, in a heroic aura. "White Squad" was published in the magazine Cornhill(whose publisher James Penn declared it "the best historical novel after “Ivanhoe”), and was published as a separate book in 1891. Conan Doyle always said that he considered him one of his best works.
With some allowance, the novel “Rodney Stone” (1896) can also be classified as historical: the action here takes place at the beginning of the 19th century, Napoleon and Nelson, playwright Sheridan are mentioned. Initially, this work was conceived as a play with the working title “House of Temperley” and was written under the famous British actor Henry Irving at the time. While working on the novel, the writer studied a lot of scientific and historical literature(“History of the Navy”, “History of Boxing”, etc.).
In 1892, the "French-Canadian" adventure novel“Exiles” and the historical play “Waterloo”, in which the main role was played by the then famous actor Henry Irving (who acquired all rights from the author). In the same year, Conan Doyle published the story “Doctor Fletcher’s Patient,” which a number of later researchers consider as one of the author’s first experiments with the detective genre. This story can be considered historical only conditionally - among the minor characters it contains Benjamin Disraeli and his wife.
Sherlock Holmes
At the time of writing The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1900, Arthur Conan Doyle was the highest paid author in world literature.
1900-1910
In 1900, Conan Doyle returned to medical practice: as a field hospital surgeon, he went to the Boer War. The book he published in 1902, “The Anglo-Boer War,” met with warm approval from conservative circles, brought the writer closer to government spheres, after which he acquired the somewhat ironic nickname “Patriot,” which he himself, however, was proud of. At the beginning of the century, the writer received the title of nobility and knighthood and twice took part in local elections in Edinburgh (both times he was defeated).
On July 4, 1906, Louise Doyle, with whom the writer had two children, died of tuberculosis. In 1907, he married Jean Leckie, with whom he had been secretly in love since they met in 1897.
At the end of the post-war debate, Conan Doyle launched a broad journalistic and (as they would say now) human rights activities. His attention was drawn to the so-called "Edalji case", which centered on a young Parsi who was convicted on trumped-up charges (of mutilating horses). Conan Doyle, taking on the “role” of a consulting detective, thoroughly understood the intricacies of the case and, with just a long series of publications in the London Daily Telegraph newspaper (but with the involvement of forensic experts), proved his charge’s innocence. Beginning in June 1907, hearings on the Edalji case began in the House of Commons, during which the imperfections of the legal system, deprived of such an important instrument as the court of appeal, were exposed. The latter was created in Britain - largely thanks to the activity of Conan Doyle.
Conan Doyle's house in South Norwood (London)
In 1909, events in Africa again came into Conan Doyle's sphere of public and political interests. This time he exposed Belgium's brutal colonial policy in the Congo and criticized the British position on this issue. Conan Doyle's letters The Times this topic had the effect of a bomb exploding. The book “Crimes in the Congo” (1909) had an equally powerful resonance: it was thanks to it that many politicians were forced to become interested in the problem. Conan Doyle was supported by Joseph Conrad and Mark Twain. But Rudyard Kipling, a recent like-minded person, greeted the book with restraint, noting that, while criticizing Belgium, it indirectly undermined British positions in the colonies. In 1909, Conan Doyle also took up the defense of the Jew Oscar Slater, who was unjustly convicted of murder, and achieved his release, albeit after 18 years.
Relationships with fellow writers
In literature, Conan Doyle had several undoubted authorities: first of all, Walter Scott, on whose books he grew up, as well as George Meredith, Mine Reid, Robert Ballantyne and Robert Louis Stevenson. The meeting with the already elderly Meredith in Box Hill made a depressing impression on the aspiring writer: he noted for himself that the master spoke disparagingly about his contemporaries and was delighted with himself. Conan Doyle only corresponded with Stevenson, but he took his death seriously, as a personal loss. Arthur Conan Doyle was greatly impressed by the storytelling style, historical descriptions and portraits in "Etudes" T. B. Macaulay:7.
In the early 1890s, Conan Doyle established friendly relations with the magazine's managers and staff The Idler: Jerome K. Jerome, Robert Barr and James M. Barry. The latter, having awakened in the writer a passion for theater, attracted him to (ultimately not very fruitful) collaboration in the dramaturgical field.
In 1893, Doyle's sister Constance married Ernst William Hornung. Having become relatives, the writers maintained friendly relations, although they did not always see eye to eye. Hornung's protagonist, the "noble burglar" Raffles, closely resembled a parody of the "noble detective" Holmes.
A. Conan Doyle also highly appreciated the works of Kipling, in which, in addition, he saw political ally(both were fierce patriots). In 1895, he supported Kipling in disputes with American opponents and was invited to Vermont, where he lived with his American wife. Later, after Doyle's critical publications on England's policies in Africa, relations between the two writers became cooler.
Doyle's relationship with Bernard Shaw was strained, who once described Sherlock Holmes as "a drug addict who has not a single pleasant quality." There is reason to believe that the Irish playwright took the attacks of the former against the now little-known author Hall Kane, who abused self-promotion, personally. In 1912, Conan Doyle and Shaw entered into a public debate on the pages of newspapers: the first defended the crew of the Titanic, the second condemned the behavior of the officers of the sunken liner.
1910-1913
Arthur Conan Doyle. 1913
In 1912, Conan Doyle published the science fiction story “The Lost World” (subsequently filmed more than once), followed by “The Poison Belt” (1913). The main character of both works was Professor Challenger, a fanatic scientist endowed with grotesque qualities, but at the same time humane and charming in his own way. At the same time, the last detective story, “The Valley of Horror,” appeared. This work, which many critics tend to underestimate, is considered by Doyle's biographer J. D. Carr to be one of his strongest.
1914-1918
Doyle becomes even more embittered when he becomes aware of the torture that English prisoners of war were subjected to in Germany.
...It is difficult to develop a line of conduct regarding the Red Indians European descent who torture prisoners of war. It is clear that we ourselves cannot torture the Germans at our disposal in the same way. On the other hand, calls for good-heartedness are also meaningless, for the average German has the same concept of nobility as a cow has of mathematics... He is sincerely incapable of understanding, for example, what makes us speak warmly of von Müller of Weddingen and our other enemies who are trying at least to some extent preserve a human face...
Soon Doyle calls for the organization of “retribution raids” from the territory of eastern France and enters into a discussion with the Bishop of Winchester (the essence of whose position is that “it is not the sinner who is to be condemned, but his sin”): “Let sin fall on those who force us to sin. If we wage this war, guided by Christ’s commandments, there will be no point. If we, following a well-known recommendation taken out of context, had turned the “other cheek,” the Hohenzollern empire would have already spread across Europe, and instead of the teachings of Christ, Nietzscheanism would have been preached here,” he wrote in The Times December 31, 1917.
In 1916, Conan Doyle toured British battlefields and visited the Allied armies. The result of the trip was the book “On Three Fronts” (1916). Realizing that official reports significantly embellished the real state of affairs, he, nevertheless, refrained from any criticism, considering it his duty to maintain the morale of the soldiers. In 1916, his work “The History of the Actions of British Troops in France and Flanders” began to be published. By 1920, all 6 of its volumes were published.
- famous English writer, author of numerous historical, fantasy and adventure works, creator of the legendary literary hero Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle was born on May 22, 1859 in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. His father was an architect and artist. WITH great love and with gratitude the writer remembers his mother, Mary Foley, who read a lot and had a wonderful gift as a storyteller. The family did not live well and all the housework fell on the fragile mother’s shoulders. However, Mary Foley always found time for constant conversations with her son. By the writer's own admission, the mother played important role in his life. Thanks to rich relatives who paid for it elementary education, at the age of nine he entered Godder Preparatory School, where he studied for 7 years. Conan Doyle then studied at the Jesuit Stonyhers College. After graduation, Conan Doyle decided to become a doctor, for which he entered the Faculty of Medicine University of Edinburgh.
While studying at the university, Conan Doyle is forced to work part-time as an assistant 
doctors and pharmacists to help their brothers and sisters. During the same period, his literary debut took place. So, his first story was published in a university magazine, his second work was already published in a larger publication. In 1880, he traveled to the shores of Africa as a ship's doctor. After graduating from university in 1881 and receiving a medical degree, Conan Doyle began practicing medicine. Having moved to London, he defended his dissertation and received the title of Doctor of Medicine. Since 1884, Conan Doyle regularly writes essays and stories that are published in local magazines. He turns to different genres while creating your works.
The first detective stories, the main character of which is the amateur detective Sherlock Holmes, appeared in the late 80s. The appearance of this hero was facilitated by Conan Doyle's memories of Joseph Bell, who taught at the University of Edinburgh. Thanks to his amazing powers of observation and his “ deductive method“He could easily understand the most difficult and confusing issues, which delighted and amazed the minds of his students. 
So Joseph Bell became the prototype of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes. “A Study in Scarlet” was a fateful story for Conan Doyle; the legendary detective appeared here for the first time. But the author’s next story, “The Sign of Four,” which appeared in 1890, brought real popularity. One after another, entire collections of stories are published, the main character of which is Sherlock Holmes. The reader is impressed by irony, intellectuality and spiritual aristocracy legendary hero, who solves the most complicated crimes with special brilliance and ease. The legendary detective's favorite drink was whiskey - an aristocratic drink of freedom and nobility, an intriguing mixture of philosophy, peace and tranquility that takes his admirers into the world of sensual dreams. You can buy whiskey in Moscow without any problems in the online store. Conan Doyle receives many letters that readers address to detective Sherlock Holmes, assuming that he is a real, not fictional person. The reader demands new works dedicated to his favorite hero. Fearing that he would turn into a “one-character writer,” Conan Doyle decided to “kill” his hero in 1893, which caused a storm of indignation among his fans.
Conan Doyle creates a number of new works, the main characters of which are Professor Challenger and Brigadier Gerard. Being already famous writer, Conan Doyle goes to the front as a regimental doctor during the Boer War (1899-1902). In 1902, due to financial problems, Conan Doyle “resurrected” the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes and would continue to create stories about him until 1927. In 1912 he wrote a fascinating fantastic story“The Lost World”, subsequently filmed more than once. Conan Doyle wrote a number of stunning historical and fantasy novels and stories, in 1926 he published at his own expense the two-volume “History of Spiritualism.” In addition to numerous essays, stories, stories and novels, 3 more volumes of Conan Doyle's poems were published. At the end of his life, the writer travels a lot. He visited the coasts of Africa, Egypt, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, hunted crocodiles and whales, and sought new impressions and sensations. Died great writer as a result of a heart attack on 7 July 1930 in Crowborough, Sussex.
Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle born on May 22, 1859 in the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh, in the family of an artist and architect.
After Arthur reached the age of nine, he went to Hodder Boarding School, a preparatory school for Stonyhurst (a large boarding Catholic school in Lancashire). Two years later, Arthur moved from Hodder to Stonyhurst. It was during these difficult years at boarding school that Arthur realized he had a talent for writing stories. In his senior year, he edits the college magazine and writes poetry. In addition, he was involved in sports, mainly cricket, in which he achieved good results. Thus, by 1876 he was educated and ready to face the world.
Arthur decided to go into medicine. In October 1876, Arthur became a medical student at the University of Edinburgh. While studying, Arthur was able to meet many future famous authors, such as James Barry and Robert Louis Stevenson, who also attended the university. But his greatest influence was one of his teachers, Dr. Joseph Bell, who was a master of observation, logic, inference and error detection. In the future, he served as the prototype for Sherlock Holmes.
Two years after starting his studies at the university, Doyle decides to try his hand at literature. In the spring of 1879, he wrote a short story, “The Secret of the Sesassa Valley,” which was published in September 1879. He sends a few more stories. But only “An American's Tale” can be published in the London Society magazine. And yet he understands that this way he too can make money.
Twenty years old, while studying in his third year at university, in 1880, a friend of Arthur invited him to accept the position of surgeon on the whaler Nadezhda under the command of John Gray in the Arctic Circle. This adventure found a place in his first story concerning the sea ("Captain of the Polar Star"). In the fall of 1880, Conan Doyle returned to his studies. In 1881, he graduated from the University of Edinburgh, where he received a bachelor's degree in medicine and a master's degree in surgery, and began to look for work. The result of these searches was the position of ship's doctor on the ship "Mayuba", which sailed between Liverpool and the west coast of Africa, and on October 22, 1881, its next voyage began.
He left the ship in mid-January 1882 and moved to England to Plymouth, where he worked with a certain Cullingworth, whom he met during his final courses in Edinburgh. These first years of practice are well described in his book “Letters from Stark to Monroe,” which, in addition to describing life in large quantities The author's thoughts on religious issues and forecasts for the future are presented.
Over time, disagreements arise between former classmates, after which Doyle leaves for Portsmouth (July 1882), where he opens his first practice. Initially, there were no clients and therefore Doyle had the opportunity to devote his free time to literature. He writes several stories, which he publishes in the same 1882. During 1882-1885, Doyle was torn between literature and medicine.
One day in March 1885, Doyle was invited to consult on the illness of Jack Hawkins. He had meningitis and was hopeless. Arthur offered to place him in his home for his constant care, but Jack died a few days later. This death made it possible to meet his sister Louisa Hawkins, to whom he became engaged in April and married on August 6, 1885.
After marriage, Doyle was actively involved in literature. One after another, his stories “The Message of Hebekuk Jephson,” “The Gap in the Life of John Huxford,” and “The Ring of Thoth” were published in the Cornhill magazine. But stories are stories, and Doyle wants more, he wants to be noticed, and for this he needs to write something more serious. And so in 1884 he wrote the book “Girdleston Trading House”. But the book did not interest publishers. In March 1886, Conan Doyle began writing a novel that would lead to his popularity. In April, he finishes it and sends it to Cornhill to James Payne, who in May of the same year speaks very warmly about it, but refuses to publish it, since, in his opinion, it deserves a separate publication. Doyle sends the manuscript to Arrowsmith in Bristol, arriving in July negative feedback for a novel. Arthur does not despair and sends the manuscript to Fred Warne and Co. But they weren’t interested in their romance either. Next come Messrs. Ward, Locky and Co. They reluctantly agree, but set a number of conditions: the novel will be published no earlier than next year, the fee for it will be 25 pounds, and the author will transfer all rights to the work to the publisher. Doyle reluctantly agrees, as he wants his first novel to be judged by readers. And so, two years later, the novel “A Study in Scarlet” was published in Beaton’s Christmas Weekly for 1887, which introduced readers to Sherlock Holmes. The novel was published as a separate edition in early 1888.
The beginning of 1887 marked the beginning of the study and research of such a concept as “life after death.” Doyle continued to study this question for the rest of his life.
As soon as Doyle sent out A Study in Scarlet, he began a new book, and at the end of February 1888 he completed the novel Micah Clark. Arthur has always been drawn to historical novels. It was under their influence that Doyle wrote this and a number of other historical works. While working on The White Company in 1889, in the wake of positive reviews for Micah Clark, Doyle unexpectedly receives an invitation to lunch from the American editor of Lippincott's Magazine to discuss writing another Sherlock Holmes work. Arthur meets him and also meets Oscar Wilde and eventually agrees to their proposal. And in 1890, “The Sign of Four” appeared in the American and English editions of this magazine.
The year 1890 was no less productive than the previous one. By the middle of this year, Doyle is finishing The White Company, which James Payne takes up for publication in Cornhill and declares it the best historical novel since Ivanhoe. In the spring of 1891, Doyle arrived in London, where he opened a practice. The practice was not successful (there were no patients), but at this time stories about Sherlock Holmes were written for the Strand magazine.
In May 1891, Doyle fell ill with influenza and was near death for several days. When he recovered, he decided to leave medical practice and devote himself to literature. By the end of 1891, Doyle became a very popular person in connection with the appearance of the sixth Sherlock Holmes story. But after writing these six stories, the editor of the Strand in October 1891 asked for six more, agreeing to any conditions on the part of the author. And Doyle asked for, as it seemed to him, the same amount, 50 pounds, having heard about which the deal should not have taken place, since he no longer wanted to deal with this character. But to his great surprise, it turned out that the editors agreed. And stories were written. Doyle begins work on "Exiles" (finished in early 1892). From March to April 1892, Doyle vacationed in Scotland. Upon his return, he began work on The Great Shadow, which he completed by the middle of that year.
In 1892, Strand magazine again proposed writing another series of stories about Sherlock Holmes. Doyle, in the hope that the magazine will refuse, sets a condition - 1000 pounds and... the magazine agrees. Doyle is already tired of his hero. After all, every time you need to invent new story. Therefore, when at the beginning of 1893 Doyle and his wife go on vacation to Switzerland and visit the Reichenbach Falls, he decides to put an end to this annoying hero. As a result, twenty thousand subscribers canceled their subscription to Strand magazine.
This frantic life may explain why the previous doctor did not pay attention to the serious deterioration in his wife's health. And over time, he finally finds out that Louise has tuberculosis (consumption). Although she was given only a few months, Doyle begins his belated departure and manages to delay her death by more than 10 years, from 1893 to 1906. He and his wife move to Davos, located in the Alps. In Davos, Doyle is actively involved in sports and begins writing stories about foreman Gerard.
Due to his wife’s illness, Doyle is very burdened by constant travel, as well as by the fact that for this reason he cannot live in England. And then suddenly he meets Grant Allen, who, ill like Louise, continued to live in England. So Doyle decides to sell the house in Norwood and build a luxurious mansion in Hindhead in Surrey. In the fall of 1895, Arthur Conan Doyle goes to Egypt with Louise and spends the winter of 1896 there, where he hopes for a warm climate that will be beneficial for her. Before this trip he finishes the book "Rodney Stone".
In May 1896 he returned to England. Doyle continues to work on "Uncle Bernak", which was begun in Egypt, but the book is difficult. At the end of 1896, he began writing “The Tragedy of Korosko,” which was created on the basis of impressions received in Egypt. In 1897, Doyle came up with the idea of resurrecting his sworn enemy Sherlock Holmes to improve his financial situation, which had worsened somewhat due to at great expense for the construction of a house. At the end of 1897, he wrote the play Sherlock Holmes and sent it to Beerbohm Tree. But he wanted to significantly remake it to suit himself, and as a result, the author sent it to Charles Froman in New York, and he, in turn, handed it over to William Gillett, who also wanted to remake it to his liking. This time the author gave up on everything and gave his consent. As a result, Holmes was married, and a new manuscript was sent to the author for approval. And in November 1899, Hiller's Sherlock Holmes was well received in Buffalo.
Conan Doyle was a man with the highest moral principles and did not change throughout life together Louise. However, he fell in love with Jean Leckie when he saw her on March 15, 1897. They fell in love. The only obstacle that kept Doyle from love affair- this is the health status of his wife Louise. Doyle meets Jean's parents, and she, in turn, introduces her to his mother. Arthur and Jean meet often. Having learned that his beloved is interested in hunting and sings well, Conan Doyle also begins to become interested in hunting and learns to play the banjo. From October to December 1898, Doyle wrote the book "Duet with a Random Choir", which tells the story of the life of an ordinary married couple.
When the Boer War began in December 1899, Conan Doyle decided to volunteer for it. He was considered unfit for military service, so he is sent there as a doctor. On April 2, 1900, he arrives at the scene and breaks field hospital for 50 seats. But there are many times more wounded. For several months in Africa, Doyle saw large quantity soldiers who died from fever, typhus, than from war wounds. Following the defeat of the Boers, Doyle sailed back to England on 11 July. He wrote a book about this war, “The Great Boer War,” which underwent changes until 1902.
In 1902, Doyle completed work on another major work about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes (The Hound of the Baskervilles). And almost immediately there is talk that the author of this sensational novel stole his idea from his friend, journalist Fletcher Robinson. These conversations are still ongoing.
In 1902, Doyle was awarded a knighthood for services rendered during the Boer War. Doyle continues to be burdened by stories about Sherlock Holmes and Brigadier Gerard, so he writes Sir Nigel, which, in his opinion, “is a high literary achievement.”
Louise died in Doyle's arms on July 4, 1906. After nine years of secret courtship, Conan Doyle and Jean Leckie married on September 18, 1907.
Before the outbreak of the First World War (August 4, 1914), Doyle joined a detachment of volunteers, which was entirely civilian and was created in the event of an enemy invasion of England. During the war, Doyle lost many people close to him.
In the fall of 1929, Doyle went on a final tour of Holland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. He was already sick. Arthur Conan Doyle died on Monday, July 7, 1930.