Sherlock Holmes' author was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930). Doyle was born in Scotland on May 22, 1859, to an English father and an Irish Catholic mother. At university, Doyle studied medicine under Professor Dr. Joseph Bell. Doyle was also starting to develop his literary career. Doyle worked as a doctor for a time but struggled to get his practice off the ground and found he was more interested in writing. In 1887, he published the first novel featuring Sherlock Holmes, called A Study in Scarlet. The book was wildly popular, prompting Doyle to write short stories that also featured Sherlock Holmes. Over time, Doyle grew tired of writing about Holmes and killed off the character. There was such an extraordinary and prolonged negative reaction to this decision that Doyle was eventually forced to resurrect Holmes and continue writing about him. The period of time between Sherlock's death and resurrection is commonly known as the Great Hiatus. Doyle's disdain for his own character led him to ask for and receive unusually high payment for his writing. In addition to the Holmes stories, Doyle also wrote extensively about Spiritualism and wrote dozens of other works of fiction, including a series about a hot-headed character called Professor Challenger. While Doyle's other works survive, they are far less famous than his stories about Sherlock Holmes. Doyle married twice and had several children. He died of a heart attack on July 7, 1930, at the age of 71.