- Suffered from consumption (tuberculosis) for most of his life, but died in the end from a brain haemorrhage and a stroke aged just forty-four.
- Stevenson settled permanently on the island of Upolu, Samoa in 1889, having come to the island initially on a pleasure cruise and for health reasons. He built a house ('Vailima', now housing a museum dedicated to him) at the foot of Mount Vaea. The Samoans readily acknowledged him as a chief, naming him Tu-si-ta-la ("teller of tales").
- Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and short story writer. Called to the Scottish bar in 1875 but never practised. Contributed essays to periodicals from 1873. One of the great storytellers in the romantic tradition, he is celebrated for "Treasure Island" (1883), "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde" (1886), "Kidnapped" (1886), "The Master of Ballantrae" (1889) and the unfinished "Weir of Hermiston" (1896).
- His father Thomas belonged to a family of engineers, who had built many of the deep-sea lighthouses around the rocky coast of Scotland. His mother, Margaret Isabella Balfour, came from a family of lawyers and church ministers.
- After his death, Samoans cut a path to the summit of Mount Vaea, where he was buried.
- Stepfather of Lloyd Osbourne.
- Kidnapped (1960), the Disney adaptation of his 1886 novel of the same name, was directed by his namesake Robert Stevenson. However, they were not related.
- In the original writing of his famous book 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde', it states the character Jekyll's name is pronounced "Jee-kill" and not 'Jek-ill'. It is mispronounced that way in almost all incarnations.
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