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😉 Greetings to the venerable audience on the site “Ladies and Gentlemen”! Friends, we will continue to study the success stories of great people. In the article “Arthur Conan Doyle: biography, interesting facts” about the main stages of the life and work of the writer.
Biography of Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (1859 – 1930) – famous English writer. The creator of more than seventy books: stories, novels, stories, poems. Works of adventure, sci-fi, humorous genres.
He was born in Edinburgh. Father Charles Altamont Doyle is a talented artist, worked as a clerk. Due to his passion for alcohol and an unstable psyche, the family did not live well.
Mother – Mary loved to read and possessed the gift of an excellent storyteller; she passed on her hobby to her son, who also read many books as a child.
1868 year. The wealthy relatives sent Arthur to school in Hodder. At the age of eleven, he moves on to the next stage of education – a Catholic school in Stonehurst. The school taught seven subjects and practiced severe punishment.
The guy diversifies a difficult period of study by writing stories that will appeal to other students. He loved outdoor activities, especially cricket and golf. Sports activities accompanied him all his life, here you can add cycling, billiards.
The beginning of the creative path
1876 - Arthur enters medical university, choosing a career as a doctor, despite the fact that the family devoted themselves to literature and art. Simultaneously with his studies, he worked in a pharmacy, financially helping the family. I read a lot and continued to write.
1879 – The story “The Mystery of the Sesass Valley” brought Doyle his first literary income. By this time, he becomes the mother’s only support, as the sick father ends up in the hospital.
1880 – he is sent as a surgeon on a voyage on the ship “Nadezhda”, which is engaged in whaling. Seven months of work earned him £ 50.
1881 – Becomes a bachelor of medicine, but practice was required to become a doctor.
1882 – worked as a doctor in Plymouth, then moved to Portsmouth, where his first practice appears. At first there was not much work, which gave him the opportunity to write for the soul.
Writing career
Doyle continues his literary career. He became famous for the published “Study in crimson tones”. The characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson become heroes of new stories.
In 1891, Doyle said goodbye to medicine and immersed himself in the writer’s work. Its popularity is gaining momentum after the release of the next work “The Man with the Split Lip”. The magazine, which publishes stories about Sherlock Holmes, asks the author to write six more stories about this character, paying the sum of 50 pounds.
After some time, Arthur begins to feel weary about the cycle, believing that these works distract from writing other serious works, but he fulfills the contract for writing stories.
A year later, the magazine again asks him to write a series of stories about Sherlock. The author’s royalty is £ 1000. The fatigue associated with finding a plot for a new story prompts Arthur to “kill” the main character. After the end of the cycle about the famous detective, 20 thousand readers refuse to purchase the magazine.
In 1892 the play “Waterloo” appeared on the stage of theaters. The operetta “Jane Annie, or the Prize for Good Conduct”, staged after his second play, failed. Doubting his ability to write plays, Doyle agrees to lecture on literary topics throughout England.
- 1894 – Lectures on cities in the United States. In subsequent years, he wrote a lot, but pays special attention to the health of his wife Louise;
- 1902 – The Hound of the Baskervilles is published. At the same time, King Edward VII conferred the title of knight on Conan Doyle for his participation as a military doctor in the Boer War;
- 1910 – the next works “The Motley Ribbon” and others appear on the stage.
Over the next years, he continues to write literary works, political essays. Visits America, Holland and other countries. The most popular were works about Sherlock Holmes, although he himself considered historical novels to be his achievement.
Arthur Conan Doyle: biography (video)
Personal life
The writer was married twice. His first wife, Louise Hawkins, died of tuberculosis in 1906. A year later, Doyle marries Jean Lecky, with which he was secretly in love since 1897. He was the father of five children.
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