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Agatha Christie(1890 - 1976 ) |
| Agatha
Mary Clarissa Miller was born on September 15, 1890 in Torquay, Devon in
England. her father was an American, Frederick Alvah Miller, whereas her
mother, Clarissa Beochmer, was English-born. When Agatha was 11, her
father died. As her mother believed that education was destructive to a
person, young Agatha never attended school. She took arithmetic classes
and learned at home from her mother and books. A playwright, Eden
Phillpotts, lived nearby and would often mentor Agatha and encourage her
to write. She was also influenced by Sherlocks Holmes stories. On December 24, 1914 Agatha wed Lieutenant Archibald Christie of the Royal Field Artillery, later a colonel in the Royal Flying Corps. Their only child, Rosalind, was born in 1919. During World War I, Agatha Christie worked as a nurse near Torquay. Her knowledge of poisons later helped her in writing her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. This novel marked the debut of the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, her most famous character. Publishers repeatedly rejected the whodunit until 1920. Agatha Christie began to regularly publish novels annually. Other popular books included The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Murder on the Orient Express (also Murder on the Calais Coach) based on their exceptionally surprising denouements. In January 1926, the greatest mystery of Agatha Chritie's life occurred. But it was not fictional. She disappeared on the 12th and could not be located for ten days. The cause of her disappearance was probably the fact that her mother had recently died and her husband was in love with another woman. Finally, she was found afflicted with amnesia. She later divorced her husband. However, she met Sir Max Mallowan during an archaeological dig in Iraq, and married him in September of 1930. Agatha followed her new husband on his digs, bringing along her typewriter to produce more mysteries. In her career, she published about 60 detective novels, as well as short stories, some nonfiction, and several plays. Her play The Mousetrap has been the longest running play since it opened in London's Ambassador Theater in 1952. She also wrote six romantic novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made Dame Commander in the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. Her last books featuring the famous characters of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple were for posthumous publication. Dame Agatha Christie died in Wallingford on January 12, 1976.
- by Estelle Lange | |
Some of the Books of Agatha Christie | |
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The Murder on the Orient
Express
The Mousetrap and Other Plays And Then There Were None The Man in the Brown Suit The ABC Murders Death on the Nile Thirteen at Dinner At Bertram's Hotel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Murder at the Vicarage A Murder Is Announced |
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Related Links | |
| Agatha Christie This website gives a full biography on Agatha Christie, including her childhood and much of her life besides writing. | |
| Agatha Christie (1890-1976) Contains a brief biography and a great deal of information on Christie's books and the movies based on her novels. | |
| Dew's Agatha Christie Mystery Site Has a short biography and extensive information about her novels, like a list of weapons used by her books' murderers. | |
