Alexander McCall Smith

1948 -

photo credits: Wikimedia Commons

country of citizenship: United Kingdom

native language: English

languages spoken, written or signed: English

educated at: University of Edinburgh, Christian Brothers College, Bulawayo, University of Edinburgh School of Law

occupation: writer, novelist, children's writer, university teacher

award received: Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, Martin Beck Award, Dagger in the Library, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, honorary doctorate from the University of Parma, honorary doctor of the University of Edinburgh

influenced by: W. H. Auden, R. K. Narayan, Edward Frederic Benson

official website: www.alexandermccallsmith.co.uk

Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE (born 24 August 1948), is a British legal scholar and author of fiction. He was raised in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and formerly Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. He became an expert on medical law and bioethics and served on related British and international committees. He has since become known as a fiction writer, with sales in English exceeding 40 million by 2010 and translations into 46 languages. He is known as the creator of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. The "McCall" derives from his great-great-grandmother Bethea McCall, who married James Smith at Glencairn, Dumfries-shire, in 1833. Source: Wikipedia (en)