Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

British mystery writer. Not only is he the founder of detective fiction, but he is also the creator of Sherlock Holmes, who is arguably the symbol of the great detective in detective fiction. Poe was the first to try his hand at the detective fiction genre, but it was Doyle who established it. The Holmes story format, featuring a great detective, his assistant Watson who receives his stories, and a client who brings him mysterious cases, has been passed down to subsequent writers, including Christie, as a classic example of detective fiction, and continues to this day.

Born in Edinburgh on May 22, 1859, he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. In 1882, he opened a practice in Portsmouth, and, taking advantage of his free time when he had few patients, he turned his attention to writing novels, which he had been writing since his student days. He was deeply impressed by the works of Gaboriau and Poe, and published his first full-length novel, A Study in Scarlet, in 1887, in which Holmes appears. He then wrote The Sign of Four in 1890, and his popularity gradually increased. In March of the following year, 1891, he opened a practice in London, but as he still had no patients, he decided to concentrate on writing, and published his first Holmes short story, A Scandal in Bohemia, in The Strand magazine. In response to the positive reception, he wrote a series of Holmes short stories, but it is said that he had planned to kill Holmes after about 20 stories. However, readers' demand was strong, so he continued to write 57 stories (including one posthumous manuscript published after his death). People's tastes vary, but among these short stories, "The Red-Headed League," "The Speckled Band," and "The Thor Bridge Incident" are highly regarded. As for long stories, "The Hound of the Baskervilles" is famous. Each of his stories is full of ideas and ingenuity, and because they were written ahead of their time, the tricks are simple, so in Japan they are widely welcomed as classic children's books.

In addition to these, he published a considerable number of detective novels, adventure novels, and science fiction novels that were not Holmes-based. In his later years, after the death of his beloved son, he devoted himself to his long-held interest in spiritualism, but at the same time, he was active in social and political movements as a patriot, and was given the title of Sir for his achievements. He died on July 7, 1930, at the age of 71.

[Kaji Tatsuo]

"Doyle" by J.D. Carr, translated by Yasuo Okubo (1980, Hayakawa Publishing) " "The Death and Resurrection of Sherlock Holmes: Conan Doyle in European Literature" by Rosenberg, translated by Tsukasa Kobayashi et al. (1982, Kawade Shobo Shinsha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

イギリスの推理作家。推理小説の開祖であるとともに、推理小説上の名探偵の象徴ともいうべきシャーロック・ホームズの創作者。推理小説というジャンルに初めて手を染めたのはポーであるが、それを確立させたのはドイルである。名探偵とその話の受け手であり助手であるワトソン役、そして不思議な事件を持ち込む依頼人というホームズものの型は、推理小説の正統な一つの典型として、クリスティをはじめとする以後の作家にも受け継がれ、今日もなお続いている。

　1859年5月22日エジンバラに生まれ、エジンバラ大学の医科で学ぶ。1882年、ポーツマスで医師を開業し、患者の少ない暇にまかせて、すでに学生時代から書いていた小説の執筆に力を入れるようになり、ガボリオやポーの作品に強い印象を受けて、初めてホームズの登場する長編『緋色(ひいろ)の研究』を1887年に発表した。続いて1890年には長編『四つの署名』を著し、しだいに人気が高まった。翌1891年3月ロンドンで開業したが、やはり患者がこないので、著述に専念することとし、ホームズものの最初の短編『ボヘミアの醜聞』を『ストランド』誌に発表した。その好評にこたえてホームズものの短編を次々に書いたが、20数編ののちにホームズを殺してしまう予定であったという。しかし読者の要望は強く、57編（うち死後発表の遺稿1編）を書き続けた。人によって好みは違うが、これら短編中『赤毛連盟』『まだらの紐(ひも)』『ソア橋事件』などは世評が高い。長編としては『バスカービル家の犬』が有名である。作品のどれにもアイデアとくふうがあり、時代が早かったせいもあってそのトリックも平明なので、日本では児童名作読物としても広く歓迎されている。

　これらのほかに、ホームズものでない推理小説、冒険小説、科学小説などかなりの数を発表している。晩年愛息を失ってからは、以前から興味のあった心霊学に凝ったが、同時に愛国者として社会運動や政治運動にも活動し、この業績でサーの称号を与えられた。1930年7月7日、71歳で没。

［梶　龍雄］

『J・D・カー著、大久保康雄訳『ドイル』（1980・早川書房）』▽『ローゼンバーグ著、小林司他訳『シャーロック・ホームズの死と復活――ヨーロッパ文学の中のコナン・ドイル』（1982・河出書房新社）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例