The British physician and writer Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh on 22/05/1859. He received his education in the Jesuit colleges in Scotland and Austria, and then studied medicine at the request of his father, Charles Altamont Doyle, in Edinburgh.

Between 1880 and 1882, Doyle worked as a ship's doctor and went to Antarctica and Africa. Starting from 1882 he had a practice in the Southsea for eight years, a small town south of the port city of Portsmouth, where he went in his spare time after literary activities. When in 1887 his first story with Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr. Watson was published (A Study in Scarlet), it only received little attention from the readers, and however, it became the focus of an American publisher, who wanted a story for their English literary magazine. Also, the second novel (The Sign of Four) did not bring any more attention from the audience.

In 1890, Doyle moved from Southsea in the far-off London and in 1891 and was able to live from his literary activities. His first short story (A Scandal in Bohemia) about Holmes and Dr. Watson was a great achieving success. Founded in 1891, the British magazine "The Strand” published the story, and so he managed to reach the large crowds. In addition to this story, the magazine dealt with topics of nature and technology, brief history and celebrities of the time. Curiosities were also published.

The magazine was very popular because it was one of the first modern illustrations featuring photos on either side which contributed to the entertainment value of the magazine. In addition to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who during the years published many stories in this magazine, among others were also stories of H.G. Wells, P.G. Wodehouse and writer Dorothy L. Sayers.

After Doyle had wrote up new stories about the now-famous Sherlock Holmes the next two years, he decided to let his hero die, because he wanted to pursue other literary fields. Contrary to the request of his mother, who was an avid reader of stories, "The Final Problem" was published in 1893, in which Sherlock Holmes fights against his worst enemy, Professor Moriarty, at the Reichenbachfallein near Meiringen in Switzerland. In this struggle, both crash and due to the special geological conditions, it is impossible to recover the remains. 

Meanwhile, the enthusiasm of the audience, however, was so big that the death of Sherlock Holmes meant that readers tied a black band around their upper arm to manifest their grief. A side effect of Holmes' death was that many customers who had a subscription to The Strand resigned it.

Also in 1893, Doyle Master appeared in No Phoenix. 257 in Portsmouth. In the following winter he crossed in Switzerland, accompanied by two locals who skied through May Furgga, an old pass route between Davos and Arosa. The novels were written after his return, but not as successful as the stories of Sherlock Holmes, although Doyle was of the opinion that historical novels were his best works.

From 1896, Arthur Doyle fought in the Boer War in South Africa and in 1900 he published the book The Great Boer War. Due to typhus infection, Doyle moved to Norfolk the same year, where an encounter lead to the resurrection of the late Sherlock Holmes. Fletcher Robinson, who grew up in Devon, told Doyle from an old legend from his home about a ghost dog. These stories inspired the author to write a story, in which a ghost dog threatens a family. Conan Doyle was therefore to carry out research on the way to Dartmoor on how to handle real impressions in his story.

On this trip, it quickly became apparent to Doyle that he needed a hero with detective skills to explain the story. So he decided to let his now dead for 7 years Sherlock Holmes investigate again, and let this novel be set earlier than the death of Holmes.

For his book The Great Boer War Conan Doyle was awarded the honorary title of Sir in 1902 and in 1903 he published his new book, The Hound of the Baskervilles. The book was a great success, so Sir Doyle decided to write more books about the private investigator. In the book The Empty House, the author explained that Sherlock Holmes was able to escape from the battle with Professor Moriarty at the last minute and survived. The way was now paved for further adventures of the most famous of all detectives.

Among other stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the Daily Mail was set during the Olympic Games in London in 1908. Furthermore, the author conceived, the hero Professor Challenger, who was to become very popular, in the book The Lost World. The novel The Lost World was to become the most famous book by the author apart from the Sherlock Holmes series. Rejuvenated, the writer began to write science fiction and novels that dealt with spiritism and mysticism in later years.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died on 07.07.1930 of a heart attack in his estate on Windlesham, outside the town of Crowborough in Sussex. The funeral took place in the small cemetery of the village Minstead and his grave is still there today. The author had married Louisa Hawkins in 1885. With her he had ??two children, a son and a daughter, Mary and Kingsley. His wife Louisa died in 1906. From 1907 Doyle was married to Jean Leckie, with whom he had three more children, sons Denis and Adrian and daughter Jean.

Many stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes appeared not only as books but also as audio books, and many of the film and television adaptations are now available on DVD or as computer games.