J. K. Rowling

Joanne Rowling (Joanne Kathleen Rowling is not her legal name; see below for the explanation) OBE (born 31 July 1965), commonly known as J. K. Rowling (pronunciation: role-ing, as in rolling stone) is a British fiction writer. Rowling is most famous as author of the Harry Potter fantasy series, which has gained international attention, won multiple awards and sold a reported 300 million copies worldwide as of 2005. In February 2004, Forbes magazine estimated her fortune as £576 million (just over US$1 billion), making her the first person to become a US dollar billionaire by writing books. Rowling is also believed to be the wealthiest woman in the United Kingdom, well ahead of even Queen Elizabeth II, but this is unproven as the Queen's personal fortune is hidden in 'The Bank of England Nominees' making her fortune known to only her closest officials.http://www.forbes.com/2004/02/26/cx_jw_0226rowlingbill04.html http://www.forbes.com/lists/results.jhtml?passListId=10&passYear=2004&passListType=Person&searchParameter1=unset&searchParameter2=unset&resultsHowMany=25&resultsSortProperties=%2Bstringfield11%2C-numberfield3&resultsSortCategoryName=Country&fromColumnClick=&bktDisplayField=&bktDisplayFieldLength=&category1=category&category2=category&passKeyword=&resultsStart=301

Early life

J. K. Rowling was born in the General Hospital at Chipping Sodbury, near her parents' home in Yate, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom in 1965. Together with her mother, father, and younger sister, Diana, she moved to Winterbourne, Bristol and then to Tutshill near Chepstow. She attended secondary school at Wyedean Comprehensive, where she told stories to her fellow students. In 1990, her 45-year-old mother succumbed to a decade-long battle with multiple sclerosis.

Related Topics:
Chipping Sodbury - Yate - Gloucestershire - United Kingdom - 1965 - Winterbourne - Bristol - Tutshill - Chepstow - 1990 - Multiple sclerosis

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After studying French and Classics at Exeter University, with a year of study in Paris, she moved to London to work as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International. During this period, she had the idea for a story of a young boy attending a school of wizardry while she was on a four-hour, delayed train trip between Manchester and London. When she had reached her destination, she already had the characters and a good part of the plot for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in her head, which she began working on during her lunch hours.

Related Topics:
French - Classics - Exeter University - Paris - London - Amnesty International - Manchester - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

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Rowling then moved to Oporto, Portugal, to teach English as a foreign language. While there she married Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes on 16 October 1992. They had one child, Jessica Rowling Arantes (born 27 July 1993), before their divorce in 1995.

Related Topics:
Oporto - Portugal - 16 October - 1992 - 27 July - 1993 - Divorce - 1995

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In December, 1994, she and her daughter moved to be near her sister in Edinburgh. Unemployed and living on state benefits, she completed her first novel, doing some of the work in an Edinburgh cafe (there is a widely circulated rumour that she wrote in a local café in order to escape from her unheated flat — but according to the author this is false).

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