J.K. Rowling
Early Life
Joanne Rowling, known by her pen name J.K. Rowling, was born on July 31, 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England. Her parents, Peter James Rowling and Anne Rowling (née Volant), were both half of English and half of Scottish descent. Rowling's sister, Dianne, was born when she was 23 months old. The family moved to the nearby village Winterbourne when Rowling was four.
She attended St Michael's Primary School, a school founded by abolitionist William Wilberforce and education reformer Hannah More. Her headmaster at St Michael's, Alfred Dunn, has been suggested as the inspiration for the Harry Potter headmaster Albus Dumbledore.
Education
Rowling attended secondary school at Wyedean School and College, where she would later describe her teenage years as unhappy. Her mother's illness with Multiple sclerosis and a strained relationship with her father affected her school work and personal life. However, she turned to writing fantasy stories, which she often read to her sister.
She attended the University of Exeter, studying for a BA in French and Classics. The course included a year in Paris, which Rowling says was "the best year of my life." She graduated from Exeter in 1986.
Career
After working as a researcher and bilingual secretary in London for Amnesty International, Rowling moved with her then-boyfriend to Manchester and it was there that she conceived the idea for Harry Potter in 1990 while on a delayed train from Manchester to London King's Cross.
Rowling then moved to Portugal to teach English. There, she met and married Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes. The couple's child, Jessica Isabel Rowling Arantes, was born on 27 July 1993 in Portugal. The couple separated in 1993, and Rowling moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, with her daughter to be near her sister.
In Edinburgh, Rowling began to write the novel that would become Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the first book in the Harry Potter series. The book was first published by Bloomsbury in June 1997 under the name J.K. Rowling.
The decision to publish Rowling's book apparently owes much to Alice Newton, the eight-year-old daughter of Bloomsbury's chairman, who was given the first chapter to review by her father and immediately demanded the next. Although Bloomsbury agreed to publish the book, Cunningham says that he advised Rowling to get a day job, since she had little chance of making money in children's books.
Harry Potter Series
The seven-year period that followed saw the publication of four more Harry Potter books, each achieving unprecedented success. In 2000, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire set a record in publishing history with a first print run of one million copies. By 2003, Rowling had become the first person to become a billionaire by writing books, however, she lost her billionaire status from giving away much of her earnings to charity.
In 2007, Rowling finished the seventh book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The book sold 11 million copies in the first 24 hours of release, breaking literary sales records.
Post-Harry Potter Work
After the release of the final Harry Potter book, Rowling has continued to write. In 2012, she published The Casual Vacancy, a tragicomedy set in a small town, under her own name. The book sold one million copies in its first three weeks of release.
In 2013, it was revealed that Rowling had published the crime novel The Cuckoo's Calling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. The novel, the first in a series, was followed by The Silkworm in 2014, Career of Evil in 2015, and Lethal White in 2018.
Personal Life
Rowling married Neil Murray, a Scottish doctor, in a private ceremony at her home, Killiechassie House in Scotland, on 26 December 2001. They have two children together: David Gordon Rowling Murray, born in 2003, and Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray, born in 2005.
Rowling has supported multiple charities, including Comic Relief, One Parent Families, and Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain, as well as launching her own charity, Lumos.