Content introduction main part

3. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s life
Arthur Conan Doyle (Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle) was a physician and British poet, novelist and short-story writer. In 1887 he published A Study in Scarlet and created the character of Sherlock Holmes. A Study of Scarlet is his first of four novels and many short stories he wrote about Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes wrote. The stories of Sherlock Holmes are considered a milestone in the crime genre. Arthur Canon Doyle was a creative writer. Apart from Holmes series, he also wrote about science fiction and fantasy about Prof. Challenger and comical stories about Brigadier Gerard, the Napoleonic soldier. He also wrote romances, plays, poetry, and historical and non-fictional novels. The early short story of “J, Habakuk Jephson’s Statement,” published in 1884 assisted in propagating the mystery of the Mary Celeste.⁶
Arthur Conan Doyle was born on May 22, 1859 in Edinburgh, Scotland to a wealthy and strict Irish Catholic family. In the art world, the Doyle family was highly respected. Doyle's father, Charles, was a lifelong alcoholic and had published few works. Doyle Mary's mother was an educated mother who had read extensively. She told offbeat stories to her young son with great enthusiasm and animation that stimulated his imagination with the spinning wild stories. Arthur Conan Doyle writes in his biography: "In my early childhood, as far as I can remember at all, the vivid stories she told me stood out so prominently that they obscure the true facts of my life." His early life was marked by uncertainty. His family broke up in 1864 due to his father Charles' increasing alcoholism. After the split, the children lived in low-income housing across the city; however, in 1867 the family reunited and they lived together again in the Sciennes district. Over there, Arthur was the leader of a Catholic street gang. In 1868 Doyle left his parents and went to England to attend a Jesuit preparatory school at Hodder Place in Stonyhurst. He attended school until 1870. After graduating from school he attended Stonyhurst College for the next five years. Arthur Conan Doyle's boarding school experience was not a pleasant one. He was bullied by his classmates. The school had ruthless punishments for student mischief. Over time, Doyle found solace in his talent for storytelling and built his own audience of young student readers. In 1876, Doyle graduated from college and his parents expected him to study art, following in his family's footsteps. However, they were surprised when Doyle decided to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh. At university, Doyle met Professor Dr Joseph Bell, who later turned out to be his mentor. It was the keen powers of observation of Prof. Dr Joseph Bell, who inspired Arthur to create Sherlock Holmes, the famous fictional detective character. At the University of Edinburgh, Doyle met his classmates, who also reached out to his future friends and authors, Robert Louis Stevenson and James Barrie. Although Doyle was a medical student, he attempted to write his first story, The Mystery of Sasassa Valley, during his medical years. The story was followed by another short story, The American Tale.⁷ The American Tale was later published in the London Society magazine.
When Doyle was in his third year of medical school, he accepted the post of ship's doctor on a ship bound for the Arctic Circle. Doyle's sense of adventure was awakened with this trip. He also has this feeling in his story "Inscription of the Pole Star. Doyle returned to medical school in 1880. At university, Arthur became interested in spiritualism and devoted most of his time to his studies. He also tried to spread spiritual beliefs in his written works. In 1881 he graduated and received his Bachelor of Medicine. At the same time, he also condemned his Roman Catholic morality.