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Fiction’s
most famous detective was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Born in Edinburgh
in 1859 he decided to become a doctor, and it was when he was studying medicine
at university the he met the man who was to later inspire him to create his most
famous character. The man was his professor, Joseph Bell, who was particularly
good at finding out not only what ailed his patients but, through careful
observation, details of their character, job and circumstances. It was his
powers of ‘deduction’ that so impressed Conan Doyle and inspired him to create
his famous detective.
In 1887 Conan Doyle published his first Sherlock Holmes book.
A study in Scarlet, featuring the super-sleuth and his friend Dr Watson and in
the years that followed many other books and short stories appeared, all eagerly
awaited by Holmes' growing army of devotees. In fact, Conan Doyle somewhat
resented the popularity of the Holmes stories, for he believed that his other
work was equally as good, though not nearly so popular with the public. He tried
to kill off Holmes in one story, but there was such an uproar that he was forced
to bring the detective back for more adventures.
Although a successful writer, Cocan Doyle continued to
practice medicine, going to South Africa during the Boer War to treat injured
troops, and he did some real-life sleuthing, too championing those he believed
had been wrongly convicted or badly treated. He was knighted in 1902.
Incidentally, the phrase that has come to be associated with
Holmes - "elementary, my dear Watson!" - does not appear in Conan Doyle’s work!
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