50 years after the death of Poirot, Agatha Christie's meticulous and impeccable detective

Hercule Poirot , the meticulous and impeccable Belgian detective created by the queen of mystery Agatha Christie , died 50 years ago after being the protagonist of 30 novels and 50 short stories published by the writer for more than half a century.

Aug. 6, 1975: The NYT runs a front-page "obit" for fictional detective Hercule Poirot: http://t.co/lFVGXzzdy3 pic.twitter.com/1wKpYSU7ls

— The New York Times Archives (@NYTArchives) August 6, 2015

After the success of Poirot, the British author (1890-1976) decided to put an end to the character in her novel Curtain , published in 1975, because she apparently found him egocentric, insufferable and pompous.

He was the only fictional character to have an obituary written about him in The New York Times on August 6, 1975, under the headline 'Hercule Poirot is Dead; Famed Belgian Detective'.

It was precisely his obsession with detail, his appearance and his sharp deductive reasoning that made Poirot one of the most popular and admired characters among readers, as well as being universally known, partly due to the success of films and television series made about him over the years.

With his unmistakable pompous mustache, his impeccable suit and his Belgian accent, Poirot had the ability to solve all cases in a methodical and highly intelligent manner, which earned him the respect and admiration of police forces around the world.

His assistant was Captain Arthur Hastings , a character who appears in some of Christie's novels and who is inspired by the Doctor Watson model of the private detective Sherlock Holmes, created by the British Arthur Conan Doyle.

Exemplary in his politeness, Poirot draws the reader in by interspersing French phrases or words , such as 'mon ami' or 'précisement', when he reflects on or investigates the various murders committed in the novels, including Death on the Nile, Murder on the Orient Express , and Tragedy in Three Acts.

Since appearing in the first novel in 1920, The Mysterious Affair at Styles , the Belgian detective has been portrayed in film and television by several renowned actors , including Albert Finney, David Suchet, Peter Ustinov and Kenneth Branagh.

In the United Kingdom , Agatha Christie's' Poirot , the television series broadcast by ITV between 1989 and 2013 , consisting of 13 seasons and 70 episodes, starring British actor David Suchet, was an unprecedented success.

Agatha Christie built her character inspired by the political situation in the United Kingdom and apparently decided that Poirot had to be Belgian due to the arrival of a group of Belgian refugees exiled due to the First World War (1914-18).

According to National Geographic magazine, some 250,000 Belgian refugees arrived in the United Kingdom during the armed conflict following the German invasion in 1914, when approximately 1.5 million Belgians had to seek refuge in other countries.

The cases investigated by Poirot, who also uses psychology to clarify them , always have a dramatic outcome when, upon gathering all the suspects in a room, he reveals the name of the murderer and provides in great detail how he did it.

In ending Poirot in Curtain , Christie gives her most famous character a dramatic twist by turning him into a murderer . However, the Belgian detective does it for the sake of others, even though it causes him great guilt and he dies from complications of a heart condition when he refuses to take his medication.

Throughout her career, the writer born in Torquay (England) published 66 detective novels, 6 romance novels and 14 short stories , in addition to writing plays such as The Mousetrap and Witness for the Prosecution.