Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was a Scottish writer and physician best known for creating the detective Sherlock Holmes, whose stories — built on close observation, deduction, and forensic reasoning — established many conventions of the modern detective genre and became a global publishing phenomenon from their first appearance in 1887.

Beyond Holmes, Conan Doyle wrote historical novels and science fiction featuring the irascible Professor Challenger. In later life he became a committed and vocal advocate for Spiritualism, investigating mediums and psychic phenomena — a turn that put him at odds with the rationalist reputation of his most famous creation.