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Dan Brown, who has been defending his best-selling novel "The Da Vinci Code" from accusations of plagiarism in a London court, went in less than 10 years from the status of humble English teacher to being one of the most successful novelists ever.
Since "The Da Vinci Code" came out in 2003, the book has sold some 50 million copies, making Brown into a publishing phenomenon to rival JK Rowling, author of the "Harry Potter" children's books.
Dan Brown was born on June 22, 1964 into an academic family in the US state of New Hampshire. His father was a mathematics professor and his mother a musician, and the young Dan was to get a first-class education.
After graduating from Amherst College, in the Massachusetts town of the same name, Brown toyed with the idea of a musical career, and spent some time in California, where he met his wife, Blythe.
In 1993 he moved back to his home town of Exeter, New Hampshire, and got a job teaching English in his old school.
He was to take up writing full time in 1996, and his interest in code-breaking resulted in his first novel, "Digital Fortress," published in an online format in 1998.
"Angels and Demons" was to follow in 2001, then "Deception Point" in 2002 followed by "The Da Vinci Code", which became almost an instant success, in 2003.
In public appearances and on his official web site -- www.danbrown.com -- Brown comes over as an affable 43-year-old with a penchant for turtleneck sweaters and informal jackets.
His wife Blythe is a painter; the couple have no children.
Brown has been named one of the World's 100 Most Influential People by TIME Magazine, while another US magazine, Forbes, ranked him 12th on its "Celebrity 100" list in 2005.
Forbes estimated the author's income for that year at 76.5 million dollars (63 million euros), making him the sixth best-paid celebrity on the list.
Brown's success has been such that in 2004 he was the author of five of the 15 best-selling books in the United States.
A film version of "The Da Vinci Code", directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks, is due for release later this year.
The book has also spawned a substantial tourist industry, based on visits to some of the real-world sites mentioned in the book. They include the Louvre Museum and the Saint-Sulpice Church in Paris, and a 15th-century chapel at Roslin in Scotland.
Brown is currently working on what his web site describes as "a series symbology thrillers".
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AFP 071044 GMT 04 06
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