Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Author of Sherlock Holmes series of novels and stories, physician, alumnus.

Background

Arthur Conan Doyle is known around the world as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, the fictional Baker Street detective.

Born in Edinburgh in 1859, Doyle studied medicine at the University between 1876 and 1881.

It was one of his professors here at Edinburgh, Dr Joseph Bell, who is said to have inspired Conan Doyle's most famous character.

Bell was a pioneering forensic pathologist, and his scientific approach - unusual for the time - seems to have rubbed off on Sherlock Holmes.

The plaque

Sir Conan Doyle's plaque is in Teviot Place, on the East wall of the main entrance of the Medical School Building.