Profile of the Day: Arthur Conan Doyle

On this day in 1859, author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. A prolific writer, Doyle is best remembered for his creation of private detective Sherlock Holmes. He wrote four novels and over fifty short stories featuring the fictional detective.

Image: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle / Library of Congress

Doyle was born to a prosperous Irish family. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, where he first began writing short stories. In fact, the character of Sherlock Holmes was partially inspired by his former university teacher and surgeon, Joseph Bell, who was known for his impressive deduction skills.

At first, Doyle struggled to succeed as an author, but by 1886, he was able to publish A Study in Scarlet, his first work to feature private detective Sherlock Holmes and his assistant, Dr. Watson. The characters would become widely popular and eventually be featured in over 50 stories.

Did you know Doyle was also a Spiritualist? Doyle was an active participant in the spiritualist movement and even attempted to find proof of life beyond death. For a while, he was friends with Harry Houdini. However, Houdini’s strong opposition to the Spiritualist movement and his mission to expose frauds eventually led the two friends to become public enemies.

Doyle died on July 7, 1930 at the age of 71.

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