Where Agatha Christie's first husband served. Brief biography of agatha christie

Biography and episodes of life Agatha Christie. When born and died Agatha Christie, memorable places and dates important events her life. writer quotes, Photo and video.

Years of life of Agatha Christie:

born September 15, 1890, died January 12, 1976

Epitaph

We wish you good luck
In that unknown and new world,
So that you don't get lonely
To keep the angels away.

Biography

The biography of Agatha Christie is an inspiring example of a woman who was able to live a happy and fulfilling life. During her life, Agatha Christie published more than 60 detective stories, 6 novels and several collections of short stories. To this day, she remains one of the most published authors in the world, second only to the Bible itself and the works of Shakespeare.

Agatha Christie was born in Torquay to a respectable English family. The origin of Agatha Christie greatly affected her appearance, because from childhood the girl was brought up as a real English lady. Once, when she was given a dog, the girl locked herself in the toilet, where she said out loud several times: “I have a dog!” It seemed to her that a lady should be able to restrain her emotions in public. She always dreamed of a family and her own home. Therefore, probably, it was so difficult for her to break up with her first husband, who left her for another woman. However, then she remarried, and this marriage became happy for her, despite the fact that Agatha Christie's second husband, an archaeologist, was 15 years younger than her.

Agatha Christie in childhood and youth

Agatha Christie has always been shy and modest. Even when she became a world famous writer, Agatha Christie never delivered solemn speeches. Yes, and she began to write simply because she argued with her older sister, who at that time was already a published writer. Her first story was published by the publishing house after the seventh tryout, but this is what inspired her to further exploits.

Already in old age, Agatha Christie admitted that she lived a happy life, bright life. According to her, her two most important dreams came true - she bought a car and attended a reception at the Queen of England herself. A cozy home, a favorite thing, a caring husband - everything she needed for happiness. Even when her health failed, she continued to write. Later, experts who studied her later work came to the conclusion that the writer had Alzheimer's disease. Agatha Christie ended her autobiography with the words: “Thank you, Lord, for my good life and for all the love that has been bestowed upon me."

The death of Agatha Christie came on January 12, 1976, she died in her own house in the village of Cholsey. The cause of death of Agatha Christie was a short cold, which caused complications. The funeral of Agatha Christie took place nearby, in the church of St. Mary. The grave of Agatha Christie is located in the cemetery belonging to this church. The detective club, which Agatha Christie headed 18 years before her death, still exists today. The memory of Agatha Christie does not fade to this day.

Agatha Christie with her daughter Rosalind and her grandson Matthew Prichard

life line

September 15, 1890 Date of birth of Agatha Christie (Agatha Mary Clarissa Mallowan, née Miller).
1914 Marriage to Archibald Christie.
1920 Publication of Agatha Christie's first novel, The Secret Affair at Styles.
1928 Divorce from Archibald Christie.
1930 Marriage to Max Mallowan.
1956 Agatha Christie is awarded the Order of the British Empire.
1958 Heading by Agatha Christie of the English Detective Club.
1971 Awarding Agatha Christie the title of chevalier lady.
January 12, 1976 Date of death of Agatha Christie.

Memorable places

1. Torquay, UK, where Agatha Christie was born.
2. The Old Swan Hotel, where Agatha Christie stayed during her disappearance in 1926.
3. Mansion Abney Hall in Cheshire, home of Agatha Christie, where she often stayed.
4. Wallingford, UK, where Agatha Christie's home was located and where she died.
5. Office of the Agatha Christie Limited foundation in London.
6. Greenway Manor, home of Agatha Christie, where the Agatha Christie Museum is today.
7. Winterbrook, Agatha Christie's home in Cholsey, where she died.
8. Cemetery of the church of St. Mary in Cholsey, where Agatha Christie is buried.

Episodes of life

Shortly after the death of Agatha Christie's mother, her husband asked for a divorce, it turned out that he fell in love with his golf colleague. Agatha refused to give a divorce, and soon simply disappeared from the house. At that time, the writer already had many fans, so her loss caused a public outcry. Agatha Christie was searched for 11 days until she was discovered in a spa hotel, where she calmly took baths and played the piano all day. The doctors attributed her disappearance to amnesia. And years later, psychologist Andrew Norman came to the conclusion that there really could be a dissociative fugue, which was caused by a mental disorder or severe shock due to the stress in Christie's life: the death of her mother and her husband's infidelity.

Agatha Christie once jokingly admitted that she invents plots for her books while washing dishes. According to her, this is such a stupid and boring activity that the thought of killing itself comes to mind. Relatives said that the process of writing a book, as a rule, went like this: Agatha Christie pondered everything in her head, simultaneously putting some thoughts into her notebook, and then one day, when the novel was fully ripening in her head, she closed in office and wrote it from start to finish. One of the writer's acquaintances claimed that Christie did not always know who the killer would be in her novel, she first wrote it, then, at the very end, she chose the suspect, and then she went through the book again and added the details necessary to confirm the hero's guilt.

Agatha Christie preferred to write by hand; secretaries and assistants typed her texts on a typewriter. Most of all, she loved to write books while lying in the bathroom - Agatha Christie took a warm bath, put a board with apples on it and wrote page after page. But since the writer was a real Englishwoman, she could not always afford it in the presence of the servants, so when there was one of the servants in the house, she sat down at the desk so as not to embarrass them.

Agatha Christie with her second husband Max Mallowan, headstone on the grave of Agatha Christie

Covenant

"Freedom is worth fighting for."

"One of greatest secrets existence - to be able to enjoy the gift of life that is given to you.

Transfer from the cycle "Top Secret" - "Agatha Christie. Queen of Detectives"

condolences

“She is like a literary conjurer who puts the cards face down, shuffles them with her cunning fingers and invites us to guess them again and again in order to deceive once again. It is highly doubtful that any of her methods of killing the characters in her books could be successfully implemented in ordinary life. But although some moments seemed incredible, the readers of her books gladly refused to disbelieve, because this is Christiland, and millions of people around the world were happy to be distracted, entertained and bewildered by her books.
Phyllis Dorothy James, writer

Biography, life story of Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie (née Miller) is an English writer (detective genre).

Childhood and youth

Agatha was born on 15 September 1890 in Torquay. Her parents were quite wealthy people who came from the United States of America. Agatha also had a sister, Margaret Frary, and a brother, Louis Montand.

Little Agatha was educated at home. She was especially fond of music, but her innate stage fright did not give the girl the opportunity to further develop her musical talents.

During the difficult times of the First World War, young Agatha worked in a hospital as a nurse and as a pharmacist in a pharmacy.

Creation

The first detective novel written by Agatha Christie was published in 1920. Its title is The Mysterious Affair at Styles. It is worth noting that the manuscript was rejected several times before publication.

Agatha Christie created some very bright literary heroes who still find their fans-readers. The first was Hercule Poirot - smart, well-mannered and very insightful. Captain Hastings appeared with him - not very smart, but rather funny and hardworking person. Then Agatha created Miss Marple - a real lady with amazing intuition.

Throughout her life, Agatha wrote more than seventy detective novels, more than a hundred short stories and seventeen plays. Her works have been translated into 103 languages.

CONTINUED BELOW

In 1914, Agatha married her longtime lover, Colonel Archibald Christie. In this marriage, Agatha gave birth to a daughter, who was named Rosalind. In 1926, Archibald confessed to his wife that he fell in love with another woman and asked for a divorce. For Agatha, this was a heavy blow, moreover, in the same year she lost her mother. Agatha and Archibald had a big fight, after which she disappeared from the city. Eleven days later, she was found in a small hotel in which Agatha checked in under a false name. Agatha herself could not explain how it all happened. After a medical examination, the doctors diagnosed her with amnesia. It is noteworthy that Agatha, being on the run, took the pseudonym Teresa Neal, and new woman her wife's name was Nancy Neal. Agatha and Archibald divorced two years later.

In 1930, Agatha Christie met archaeologist Max Mallowan. They immediately fell in love with each other and after a while tied themselves up by legal marriage. They had a huge age difference (fifteen years), but this did not stop them from living together for the rest of their lives.

Death

Agatha Christie died on January 12, 1976, in Wallingford, in her own home. She was buried in the village of Cholsey.

She has as many names as there are possible outcomes for the detective novels she wrote. In addition to the traditional name Agatha (which, by the way, is only the second, not the first), her parents gave her two more of them - Mary, and also Clarissa.

Moreover, Christie is not the maiden name of the writer who gave the world the greatest detective phrases in the form of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. Peru Agatha Miller owns more than 60 detective novels, as well as two dozen plays and numerous collections of short stories. Need I say how often these literary works honored with all kinds of productions and adaptations!

Childhood, girlhood and first marriage

The childhood city in which the eminent writer was born is Torquay (Devon), and exact date birth - September 15, 1890. Thanks to wealthy parents (they were immigrants from the United States), Agatha received a thorough home education.

Biographers unanimously emphasize the undoubted musical talents of the future star of the English detective genre. However, shyness stood between her and the fate of the performer, influencing her further biography. And then, when she turned 24, marriage entered her life, finally burying the opportunity to shine on stage.

Colonel Archibald Christie for several years was a symbol of her love, for the first time she saw Lieutenant Archibald in front of her, but only when he rose to the rank of colonel, their joint happiness became a reality.

Agatha gave birth to her first husband Rosalind, but this did not save the first marriage, which was awarded to the future famous writer from fate. Her mother died in 1926, and two years later Archie insisted on a divorce. By that time, he was already in love with another woman. It was a banal affair between two golf partners.

Agatha Christie experienced insanity, which brought her to memory loss. However, treatment in a boarding house helped her to continue raising her beloved daughter. However, evil tongues claim that it was an attempt to take revenge on the dissolute ex-spouse: the police found an empty car with collected things, and the ex-wife herself disappeared without a trace, and the suspicion of a possible murder naturally fell on Archie. However, the matter never came to an arrest ...

Early career and second marriage

1920 was the year of her writing debut. Interestingly, before the publication, various British publishers rejected the opus of the future literary star of the national scale five times! As you can see, the beginning inspired, and the writer soon produced a whole series of novels with a Belgian detective as the main character.

No less famous Miss Marple Agatha came up with later. Subsequently, journalists repeatedly asked Christie the question of whether she herself was the prototype of her popular heroine? To which the writer invariably replied: they say, I don’t see any similarity between us!

According to her version, the attic of the house of one of her grandmothers turned out to be a storage place for an old reticule. All that Agatha Christie did was free him from bread crumbs, two pennies and silk lace, and this was the birth of the image of the famous detective.

In 1930, Agatha found a more serious candidate for husbands, archaeologist Max Mallowan became them. The young people met when Mrs. Christie was traveling in Iraq and came across the Ur dig. Since then, the writer has liked Asian voyages so much that the couple annually visited Iraq and neighboring Syria.

The First World War began, and Agatha devoted herself to working in a hospital, and later in a pharmacy. So it is not surprising her ability to understand poisons and professional knowledge in this area.

They say that when Agatha Christie met the future university professor in London, their love flared up like a dry camel's thorn on a red-hot dune. And this is despite the fact that Christie was then already 40, and her chosen one turned out to be a decade and a half younger.

They got married two months later and did not part for half a century! It was a deep love and mutual respect that began with a honeymoon, which took place, among other things, on the territory of the USSR. And this year was the year of birth of her deeply emancipated Miss Marple.

Subsequently, by the way, the writer said with a smile that she and her husband were both doing what they loved. And to be the wife of an archaeologist, according to her, is wonderful because over the years a woman is of increasing interest to her chosen one.

Honor and respect, Hercule, Hastings and Marple

The dizzying career that followed gave the world numerous detective stories that later became classics. In 1958, the writer was awarded the right to head the Detective Club of Britain.

And in 1971 she was awarded the Order of the British Empire in the literary field. At the same time, Christie added a piece of the noble title “dame” to her three names. Alas, five years later she was gone. A cold eventually led her to the graveyard in Cholsey. It happened in Wallingford (Oxfordshire), which became her native.

In fairness, it should be noted that Agatha Christie copied her first pair of heroes from an equally famous pair. But, nevertheless, the writer managed to make them so original that this borrowing was soon forgotten.

On the contrary, it later became a rule of good taste to say that the intellectual Poirot and the somewhat comical, diligent and not very smart Hastings were worthy successors of the work of the English authors of the detective genre.

But the image of the old maid Marple, which Agatha created later, became the arithmetic mean of the heroines of her colleagues Braddon and Green. Christie led her Hercule from the very beginning of her (and his!) career (beginning with The Mysterious Incident at Styles) through the twists and turns of 26 novels, until his "death". It happened in 1975, when Christie's career ended with "Curtain ..." or Poirot's last case.

The mouthpiece of emancipation

However, her grandson Matthew Pritchard claimed that the writer loved her detective more - a smart, old, traditional English lady. The secret is simple: Christy is an ardent champion of emancipation. First of all, this was reflected in her usual field of activity.

Agatha Christie put the postulates of emancipation into the mouths of her heroines more than once. Anyone who is familiar with Christie's great literary heritage in great detail will confirm that sexual crimes never became the theme of her novels.

And scenes of violence, pools of blood and a sea of ​​rudeness are not inherent in her work. In this, her imperishable works are noticeably different from modern opuses of the detective genre. Agatha believed that all this unnecessary entourage does not allow the reader to fully sympathize and knocks her off the main topic.

It is interesting that, according to Christie himself, the undoubted peak of her work is the narrative of ten blacks. Moreover, the fictional island, where sinister and mysterious murders unfolded, has a very real “twin”. Agatha Christie copied the cliffs rising from the sea from Burgh, an island located in the south of England.

It was this novel that was destined to become the record holder for the number of copies sold. Political correctness, however, has made changes to Christie's creative process: at present, its name has been changed to "And there were none."

Throughout the reading world, she has the title of "Queen of Crimes", but Agatha herself has said more than once that she likes the title of "Duchess of Death" more than once. Looking at a photo of a pretty elderly woman, it is hard to believe that hundreds of murders were born in her sophisticated brain. It is curious, but true: in her literary delights, she preferred poisons to firearms. In her opinion, they were excitingly attractive.

History has preserved the statement of her great admirer Winston Churchill, who once said that Christie had more money from the murders than any other woman, including the notorious Lucrezia Borgia.

Having a rich biography, Agatha left behind a legacy that has spread around the world in more than a hundred languages ​​in more than two billion copies. Christy is the author whose books are the most read in the world.

And she always defined her social status as a housewife: one of the writer's hobbies was real estate.

Agatha Christie (1890-1976) - famous English writer. She was born in the port city of Torquay in the south of England. The place is amazing and famous for its mild maritime climate. In the 19th century, it was a fashionable resort where vacationers admired the palms, cypresses and pines. Today it is called the English Riviera.

The girl's name was Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller. Her mother and father came to England from the United States, having made a small fortune there. The family also grew older sister Margaret Frary (1879-1850) and older brother Louis Montand (1880-1929).

The older sister wrote funny stories, and Agatha decided to write a story too. But the plot turned out to be very scary, even creepy. His parents did not like him, and they directly told their daughter about it. After that, the girl long years I lost all desire to write anything.

The mother of our heroine gravitated towards everything new and interesting. She was fond of the new religion, then fashionable needlework. As for the father, he was addicted to drinking. After his death, the family was forced to move to Cairo, as it was much cheaper to live there compared to England.

By this time, Agatha had turned into a pretty girl with a good home education, and the question of marriage arose. At one of the youth evenings, the future famous writer met a pilot of the Royal Air Force. His name was Archibald Christie. The man was not rich, but his courageous profession turned the head of a romantic girl. She fell in love with a pilot, and this feeling lasted for many years.

With first husband after marriage

It all ended with a wedding in 1914. But the joy of family life was overshadowed by the First World War. During these difficult years, Agatha Christie worked as a nurse in the hospital. There she met many Belgian refugees. It can be assumed that communication with these people gave rise to the image of the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot in the future.

From the hospital, the girl went to work as a pharmacist in a pharmacy. She perfectly mastered the knowledge of medicines as well as poisons. Subsequently, this was reflected in her work. Several dozen crimes described in her books were committed precisely with the help of poisoning.

With daughter Rosalind

In 1919, our heroine gave birth to a daughter, Rosalind, and in 1920 she wrote her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Stiles. The young woman went to the publishing houses, offering her work to the editors. But only the seventh publishing house agreed to publish it. For her first book, the future detective novel star received a fee of £25.

What prompted Agatha to take up writing? Here it must be taken into account that the husband sometimes did not go home for 6 months, taking into account his profession. The woman spent all her evenings alone. Maybe loneliness gave her the idea to do something productive and interesting. The writer herself later said that she invented bloody murders when she was washing dishes. As for the development of the plot, apples helped a lot in this. The woman loved them very much, and when she ate, bright and exciting pictures of sinister and sophisticated crimes surfaced in her head.

In 1926, our heroine had two turning points in her life. The mother died, and the husband asked for a divorce, as he fell in love with a certain Nancy Neal, with whom he regularly played golf. Christie resisted divorce for a long time, trying with all her might to save the family. And in December 1926 she left home and disappeared.

Police searched unsuccessfully for 11 days for the woman. Finally, her car was discovered, and soon the writer herself was found in a small hotel with signs of amnesia. Agatha registered in it under the name of her husband's mistress. But did the woman really suffer from memory loss, or did she fake everything to annoy her unfaithful husband?

There is no answer to this question. However, English psychologist Andrew Norman carefully studied Christie's behavior in the hotel and concluded that the woman suffered from dissociative fugue. And it was caused by experiences and suffering. Indeed, our heroine at first experienced grief from the death of her mother, and as soon as she recovered, she received a new psychological blow when she learned that her beloved husband was going to divorce her. Many people in this situation can experience a nervous breakdown.

In 1928 family life ended in divorce, and the writer was left alone. In 1930, she traveled to Iraq and met Max Mallowan (1904-1978) while excavating the ancient city of Ur. He was a young archaeologist specializing in the history of Western Asia. He graduated from Oxford and worked with the famous English archaeologist Charles Woolley.

With second husband

The man was 15 years younger than Agatha. But the noticeable difference in age did not prevent their marriage. This union turned out to be extremely happy and lasted until the death of both spouses. As for the writer's work, since then the plots of her detective novels began to develop in the lands of Western Asia.

The couple treated each other with respect and were truly happy. Christy often helped her husband. She photographed excavations, dealt with papers, correspondence, reports, and her husband, in turn, was keenly interested in the work of his wife.

In 1956, England appreciated the literary talents of her famous compatriot. They hung the order of the British Empire on her chest. In 1971, he was awarded the title of cavalierdam, which gave the right to a title of nobility. The husband was worthy of his wife. For services to archeology, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1968.

In 1958, Agatha Christie became chairman of the English Detective Club. But what is interesting, a world-famous woman never considered her work to be something serious and important. On the other hand, she valued her husband's archaeological activity extremely highly and believed that it was necessary for humanity.

Agatha Christie with her grandson

In 1971, the writer's health began to deteriorate. Doctors, having studied her literary works written at that time, came to the conclusion that the elderly woman developed Alzheimer's disease. The creator of many brilliant detectives died on January 12, 1976 at the age of 86. She died at her home in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England.

During her life she wrote 78 detective novels, 19 plays, many short stories and poems. The circulation of publications exceeded 4 billion, and the works have been translated into 120 languages ​​of the world. Agatha invented such famous heroes like Hercule Poirot, Mrs. Marple, Captain Hastings, Miss Lemon, Inspector Japp of Scotland Yard, Colonel Reis of British Intelligence, etc.

It was courageous and Strong woman. She was a great driver, was fond of horse riding, loved to travel and even flew a plane. Until her death, she retained a great sense of humor and knew how to enjoy every day she lived. In her autobiography, Christie wrote these words: "God, thank you for a wonderful life and for the love you have given me."

For 86 years of her life, Agatha Christie wrote almost 70 novels. This is a lot. If you read so many detective stories in a row, you will probably want to kill someone yourself.

Fortunately, experts in literature believe that only 10 works of the British writer are true masterpieces. Ten is not so much anymore. After ten detectives, it is quite possible to be satisfied with blackmail, robbery, or, in extreme cases, torture.

"The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" (1926)

Investigates Hercule Poirot

You'll never guess who the killer is. Truth. The book was published in 1926 and caused a real shock. Until now, not one of the authors of detective novels has guessed to make a murderer ... Everything, everything, we are silent.

"Murder at the Vicarage" (1930)

Investigates Miss Marple

Another innovation: for the first time, a decrepit old maid appeared on the stage as a detective, with whom the audience immediately fell passionately in love. Now the old woman will have to stay on this stage for almost half a century: in the latest novels with her participation, the writer hints that Miss Marple has already exceeded one hundred years.

"Murder on the Orient Express" (1934)

Investigates Hercule Poirot

The detective has been filmed about a million times - in all countries that have managed to invent film. Again, you probably won't be able to guess the killer. And the book also immortalized the train that ran from Istanbul to Paris, a luxurious luxury express. Velvet curtains, silver coasters, corpses in the compartment - everything is as it should be.

"The Endhouse Mystery" (1932)

Investigates Hercule Poirot

In addition to the twisted plot, there is an excellent description of the golden youth of the Great Depression, from which it follows that our great-grandmothers had sex with everyone and drove cars. It is strange that such decent and well-meaning great-grandchildren were born to them.

"Death on the Nile" (1937)

Investigates Hercule Poirot

The detective story is so captivatingly written that it's tempting to drop everything, take a Nile cruise ticket, and be gracefully murdered there. Also a great many adaptations - what director would not want to shoot a film on a magnificent steamer, where everyone is in pearls and tuxedos?

"Ten Little Indians" (1939)

Investigating Thomas Legge and Inspector Maine

“Ten blacks decided to have lunch - one choked, and there were nine left of them.” The most difficult and tragic of the writer's detective stories. The perfect thriller: the whole truth about the darkness of criminal souls. We have filmed by Govorukhin - with the brilliant Tatyana Drubich in the title role. And yes, for reasons of political correctness in the West, the novel is now being published under the title And There Were No One.

"Death Comes at the End" (1944)

Nobody investigates

An archaeologist husband is a great help for any author of detective stories. The novel takes place in Ancient Egypt, four thousand years ago. A detailed and quite historically accurate observation of the life of an ancient Egyptian family, in which a secret killer is operating. With this book, Lady Agatha proved that she can make readers fall in love not only with British life. Her Egyptian is also very seductive.

"Evil Under the Sun" (1941)

Investigates Hercule Poirot

The beach, the palm trees, the sun, a glitzy hotel on the island - and the famous sociopathic actress as the main animator, who diligently bakes all the guests in turn, and in the end is the victim of a brutal murder. An amazing detective story, reading which you sincerely and ardently wish that the killer of this charming lady was never found.

Crooked House (1949)

Investigates Charles Hayward

Purely a family affair: at the funeral of a rich old Greek, his large worthless family squabbles over an inheritance. And then strange deaths begin. It is impossible to describe what is happening in more detail, it will turn out to be a continuous spoiler, but again, the killer is again very difficult to guess even for an experienced reader.

"At 4.50 from Paddington" (1957)

Investigates Miss Marple

Another favorite screenwriter book. An old woman on a train catches a glimpse of a man strangling a woman in a compartment of another train. However, perhaps the old lady only dreamed of this horror? And even if not - where to look for the killer and the victim, who are they? (Electronic personalized tickets will be invented only in half a century.) But these trifles will not stop Miss Marple!