Joanne Rowling, CH, OBE, HonFRSE, FRCPE, FRSL (born 31 July 1965) is a British author, philanthropist, film producer, television producer and screenwriter. She is best known for writing the Harry Potter fantasy series, which has won multiple awards and sold more than 500 million copies. She also writes crime fiction under the pen name Robert Galbraith. Her UK sales total in excess of £238 million, making her the best-selling living author in Britain.
About J. K. Rowling in brief
Joanne Rowling CH, OBE, HonFRSE, FRCPE, FRSL (born 31 July 1965) is a British author, philanthropist, film producer, television producer and screenwriter. She is best known for writing the Harry Potter fantasy series, which has won multiple awards and sold more than 500 million copies. She also writes crime fiction under the pen name Robert Galbraith. Her UK sales total in excess of £238 million, making her the best-selling living author in Britain. Forbes reported that she lost her billionaire status after giving away much of her earnings to charity. Rowling was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour at the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to literature and philanthropy. In October 2010, she was named the Most Influential Woman in Britain by leading magazine editors. 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. She calls herself Jo. Before her remarriage, she has sometimes used the name Joanne Murray when conducting personal business. During the Leveson Inquiry, she gave evidence under the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling and her entry in Who’s Who lists her name also as Jo. Kathleen Rowling. Rowling’s sister Dianne was born at their home when she was 23 months old. As a child, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories which she read to her sister who moved to Agedbourne, Gloucestershire.
She has a daughter, a son, and a daughter-in-law who are all of British descent. Rowling is married to British businessman Peter James Rowling, and has a son and daughter with his wife, Emma Rowling, who is also a writer. She lives in London with her husband and two children. She was awarded an OBE by the Queen in 2010 for her services to the arts and charity. She previously worked as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International. She conceived the idea for Harry Potter series while on a delayed train from Manchester to London in 1990. She had no middle name, so chose K as the second initial of her pen name, from her paternal grandmother. Her publishers asked that she use two initials rather than her full name, anticipating the possibility of the target audience of young boys not wanting to read a book written by a woman. Her mother’s French paternal grandfather, Louis Volant, was awarded the War Cross for exceptional bravery in defending the village of Courcelllles-le-Comte during World War I. Rowling originally believed Volant had won the Legion of Honour during the war, as she received it herself in 2009. She later discovered the truth when featured in an episode of Who Do You Are? in which she found out it was a different man. When she heard her grandfather’s story, she discovered that he was like her grandfather, a waiter, and had been a waiter like her father.
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