Maurice Leblanc

Born in Rouen, France, on December 11, 1864, he began his career as a writer and journalist before becoming famous for fiction. Early on he wrote novels and short stories, but his lasting reputation came from popular storytelling with a light, elegant touch.

In 1905 he introduced Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief who became the central figure of many of his novels and stories. The character’s clever disguises, daring schemes, and playful battles of wits made Lupin one of the best-known figures in French popular literature.

He continued writing Lupin adventures for decades, and those books remain the work he is most closely associated with. Maurice Leblanc died in Perpignan on November 6, 1941, but his fiction has stayed alive through generations of readers and many later adaptations.