Diogenes Club

Common card · No. 284899

The Diogenes Club is a fictional gentlemen's club created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and featured in several Sherlock Holmes stories, such as 1893's "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter." It seems to have been named after Diogenes the Cynic (though this is never explained in the original stories) and was co-founded by Sherlock's indolent elder brother Mycroft Holmes. As stated by Sherlock Holmes in "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter," the club's membership consists of "the most unsociable and most unclubable men in town." They have no desire for social interaction as in other clubs, but merely want a comfortable place to sit and read. Within the club premises, no member is permitted to acknowledge another in any way, and no talking is allowed except in the "Stranger's Room," a small chamber that looks onto Pall Mall. Any member who violates these rules three times is subject to expulsion. Sherlock visits the club from time to time, describing it as "a very soothing atmosphere."

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