Sir James Matthew Barrie was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan, one of the most enduring characters in children’s literature. He first introduced Peter Pan on stage in Peter Pan; or, The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up (first performed in 1904) and later developed the story in prose as Peter and Wendy (1911).
Barrie wrote widely across fiction and theatre, producing several successful novels and plays during the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. In 1929, he gifted the rights to the Peter Pan works to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, a legacy that continues to support children’s healthcare.
He was created a baronet in 1913 and appointed to the Order of Merit in 1922.
