Professor Challenger

For the British pilot and aircraft designer, see George Henry Challenger.
Professor Doctor Challenger
The Lost World character
Professor Challenger (seated) as illustrated by Harry Rountree in Arthur Conan Doyle's novella The Poison Belt in The Strand Magazine
Created byArthur Conan Doyle
Portrayed by
In-universe information
GenderMale
NationalityScottish

George Edward Challenger is a fictional character in a series of fantasy and science fiction stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Unlike Doyle's self-controlled, analytical character, Sherlock Holmes, Professor Challenger is an aggressive, hot-tempered, dominating figure.

Like Sherlock Holmes, Professor Challenger was based on a real person—in this case, two people: an explorer named Percy Fawcett, who was Doyle's friend; and a professor of physiology named William Rutherford, who had lectured at the University of Edinburgh while Conan Doyle studied medicine there.[1][2]

  1. ^ pxxiii in the Oxford ed of The Lost World. William Rutherford (1839–1899), holder of the Edinburgh Chair of Physiology from 1874.
  2. ^ Arthur Conan Doyle 1930. Memories and adventures. Murray, London 1930. p32