Agatha Christie

Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born in 1890 to Frederick Alvah Miller, an American stockbroker, and Clara Boehmer, a British woman. She received home education until age twelve in 1902, learning reading, writing, arithmetic and music from her parents; her father died in 1901. From 1902 to 1905 she attended a girls’ school in Torquay, Devon, then continued her studies in Paris from 1905 to 1910 before returning to her family in England. As a young adult she pursued writing, producing several unpublished short stories and novels that were rejected by publishers and literary magazines, some of which were later revised into successful works; during this period she sought advice from writer Eden Phillpotts (1862‑1960). In 1913 she accepted a marriage proposal from military officer and pilot‑in‑training Archibald “Archie” Christie, and they married in late 1914, after which she used the name Agatha Christie for most of her literary output. During World War I Archie served in the conflict while Agatha joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment as an unpaid field nurse from 1914 to 1916, then worked as an apothecary’s assistant with a modest salary until September 1918. She wrote her debut novel, *The Mysterious Affair at Styles*, in 1916; it introduced Hercule Poirot, Inspector Japp and Arthur Hastings and was published in 1920 after difficulty finding a publisher. After the war the couple moved to London, where their daughter Rosalind Margaret Clarissa Christie (1919‑2004) was born. The novel’s success was followed by *The Secret Adversary* (1922), *Murder on the Links* (1923) and numerous short stories, establishing her reputation as a writer. In 1926 Archie announced he had a mistress and sought divorce; Agatha disappeared for ten days, was found in Yorkshire under an assumed name, and doctors diagnosed amnesia. The couple divorced in 1928, with Agatha retaining the Christie surname and gaining sole custody of Rosalind. She married archaeologist Max Mallowan in 1930; they remained together until her death in 1976. Their travels to the Middle East inspired several novels, and they settled at Winterbrook, Oxfordshire, in 1934. During World II she worked in the pharmacy at University College Hospital, acquiring knowledge of poisons that informed her writing. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1956 and Dame Commander of the same order in 1971; Max was knighted in 1968, making them one of the few couples both honoured for their work. Agatha wrote until 1974, though health problems later affected her memory and style, with recent research suggesting Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia. She died of natural causes in early 1976.