Eric Oswald Mowbray Knight was an English novelist and screenwriter, who is mainly notable for creating the fictional collie Lassie. He took American citizenship in 1942 shortly before his death.

 

Born in West Yorkshire, England, Knight was the third of four sons born to Frederic Harrison and Marion Hilda (née Creasser) Knight, both Quakers. His father was a rich diamond merchant who, when Eric was two years old, was killed during the Boer War. His mother then moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, to work as a governess for the imperial family. She later settled in America.

Eric Knight