J. K. Rowling

She tied the knot with a Portuguese journalist, Jorge Arantes on October 16, 1992. The following year, they were blessed with a baby girl. However, the two did not stay long together and separated on November 17, 1993. She filed for a divorce in August 1994

In 2001, she got married for the second time to Neil Michael Murray, an anaesthetist by profession. The couple was blessed with a son David Gordon Rowling Murray and daughter Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray.

A notable philanthropist, she has been supporting various charities such as Comic Relief, One Parent Families, Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Lumos.

J.K. Rowling was born as Joanne Rowling to James and Anne Rowling in Yate, Gloucestershire, England. Her parents were blessed with a second daughter Dianne just a month prior to Joanne’s second birthday.

Academically proficient, she attended the St Michael's Primary School before enrolling herself at the Wyedean School and College. For further studies, she admitted herself at the University of Exeter for BA in French and Classics.

Her tryst with writing fiction tales started when she was five - her first ever written story being ‘Rabbit’. Ever since then, she continued to pursue her love for writing by penning numerous stories.

Graduating in 1986, she moved to London and took up the job of a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International. Meanwhile, she penned a short essay titled, ‘What was the Name of that Nymph Again? or Greek and Roman Studies Recalled’ that was published in the University of Exeter's journal Pegasus.

While on a journey from Manchester to London, a daring thought envisioned and captured her heart and mind like never before and she went on to dream a little more, thus forming the caricature of the bespectacled boy Harry Potter and his antics.

The adrenaline rush that she felt about the wizardry boy and his world left her bemused so much so that she did not waste time about penning her thoughts and rather kept on forming a more concrete idea. The same evening, she started penning 'Philosopher's Stone', the first of the Harry Potter series.

A vacancy of the position of a teacher led to her relocating to Portugal, wherein she spent the night teaching English. During the day, she assimilated thoughts and penned the first three chapters of her book.

Facing personal turmoil, she moved to Scotland in 1993 to live near her sister Dianne. Being at a major crisis situation with no job and a disrupted personal life, she inspired herself to write for this was the only passion that was left in her.

In 1995, she completed her manuscript of the legendary book, ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’. After facing rejection from about 12 publishers, editor, she finally got green signal from Barry Cunningham of Bloomsbury.

Today, the Harry Potter franchise is worth an estimated $15 billion. A global brand, it has created world records in literary circles and continues to be the most loved fiction tale. The last four books of the series have broken all records to become the fastest selling books in history, with the last one selling a record 11 million copies on the first day of its release in UK and the US. The books have been translated into 65 languages and made her UK best-selling author with an estimated sales of �238m and more.