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Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie

アガサ・メアリー・クラリッサ・クリスティ

Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie

Pen Names: Mary Westmacott（Pseudonym used for six mainstream/romantic novels）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1890-09-15 （Torquay, Devon, England）
Died
1976-01-12 （Winterbrook House, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England） age 85
Nationality
British
Languages
English
Religion
Church of England
Residence History
Winterbrook House, Winterbrook (near Wallingford), Oxfordshire → Greenway Estate, Devon → Cresswell Place / Sheffield Terrace, Chelsea / Holland Park, London → Sunningdale, Berkshire

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Short story writer, Playwright, Poet, Memoirist
Active Years
1916-1976
Affiliations
Royal Society of Literature (Fellow), The Detection Club (co-president / president)
Memberships
Royal Society of Literature, The Detection Club
Influenced By
Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll
Influenced
Numerous contemporary mystery writers (influence on plotting and twist endings), Preservation and popularization of Golden Age detective-fiction conventions

Education

Home education / Miss Guyer's Girls' School (Torquay) / Pensionnats in Paris
Period: 幼少期～青年期（主に家庭教育、1900年代に学校通学およびパリでの教育）
Country: United Kingdom (and France)
Primarily home-educated in childhood; later attended Miss Guyer's and pensionnats in Paris for voice and piano training.

Awards

Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award
1955
Organization: Mystery Writers of America
Result: 受賞
Edgar Award (Best Play)
1955
Work: Witness for the Prosecution (play)
Category: Best Play
Organization: Mystery Writers of America
Result: 受賞
Honorary Doctor of Literature
1961
Organization: University of Exeter
Result: 授与
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
1956
Organization: The British honours system
Result: 授与
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE)
1971
Organization: The British honours system
Result: 授与

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

1920 Detective novel / Mystery 296 pages

Christie's first published novel introducing Hercule Poirot, solving a murder in a country house setting.

closed-circle mysterypoisondeduction and red herrings
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Mysterious Affair at Styles (various adaptations)
Translations
  • The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Murder on the Orient Express

1934 Detective novel / Mystery 256 pages

A locked-room style mystery on the Orient Express in which Poirot uncovers a surprising collective motive.

train settingcollective motivejustice and vigilante retribution
Adaptations
  • [Film] Murder on the Orient Express (1974, 2017, etc.) / Sidney Lumet (1974) / Kenneth Branagh (2017) (1974)
Translations
  • Murder on the Orient Express

And Then There Were None

1939 Mystery / Suspense 272 pages

Ten people are invited to an isolated island and die one by one; notable for having no central detective figure.

isolated settingguilt and retributionpsychological tension
Adaptations
  • [Film / Stage] And Then There Were None (many film/stage adaptations)
Translations
  • And Then There Were None

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

1926 Detective novel 312 pages

A country-house murder with a controversial narrative twist concerning the reliability of the narrator.

unreliable narratorvillage societytwist ending
Adaptations
  • [Stage / Screen] The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (stage/screen adaptations)
Translations
  • The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

The Mousetrap

1952 Play / Mystery

A play opened in 1952 in the West End; it holds the record for the longest initial run in history.

closed settingpast crimestheatrical plotting
Adaptations
  • [Stage] The Mousetrap (West End stage production) (1952)
Translations
  • The Mousetrap

Bibliography

  • The Mysterious Affair at Styles
  • The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
  • Murder on the Orient Express
  • And Then There Were None
  • The Mousetrap (play)
  • Witness for the Prosecution (play)

Adaptations

  • Many works adapted into films, television series, radio plays, stage productions, video games and graphic novels
  • Agatha Christie's Poirot TV series (1989–2013, starring David Suchet)

Translations of Works

  • Translated into many languages (UNESCO lists her as the most-translated individual author)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
intricate plottinglogical puzzle constructionconcise, clear prose typical of the Golden Age of detective fiction
Recurring Motifs
poison and pharmaceutical methodsclosed societies (country houses, trains, islands)manipulation of narrator/perspectivepast secrets and revenge

Health

  • Dementia (possible Alzheimer's disease)
    1971–1976（症状の兆候が約1970年代初頭から見られた）
    Signs of cognitive decline appeared in the early 1970s; after a heart attack and fall in 1974 she was largely unable to write. Last full novel published in 1973.

Legacy

Agatha Christie, often called the 'Queen of Crime', is one of the defining authors of Golden Age detective fiction. She produced global bestsellers, with The Mousetrap holding the record for longest initial run. Her works continue to be adapted and translated worldwide, though some earlier passages have drawn criticism for stereotypical portrayals.

Museums

  • Greenway (Agatha Christie's house, National Trust) Devon, England Opened in 2000

Academic Societies

  • Royal Society of Literature
  • The Detection Club

Archives

  • University of Exeter (holds business papers and archives)
  • The National Trust (Greenway collections and displays)

In Popular Culture

  • Extensive adaptations across film, television, radio, video games and graphic novels
  • Featured on postage stamps and commemorative coins (Royal Mail stamps, 2020 Royal Mint coin)
  • Her 1926 disappearance has been dramatized and fictionalized in films, novels and plays

Quotes

  • My chief dislikes are crowds, loud noises, gramophones and cinemas. I dislike the taste of alcohol and do not like smoking. I do like sun, sea, flowers, travelling, strange foods, sports, concerts, theatres, pianos, and doing embroidery.
    Source: Autobiography and recorded remarks (circa 1946) (1946)

Trivia

  • One of the best-selling fiction authors of all time (over two billion copies reported)
  • The Mousetrap has the record for the longest initial run (opened 1952 in the West End)
  • And Then There Were None has sold approximately 100 million copies
  • Published six mainstream novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott