Maurice Leblanc

Maurice Leblanc (Rouen, 1864 – Perpignan, 1941) was a French novelist and short story writer, best known as the creator of Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief who became one of the most popular figures in French crime fiction. Writing in French during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, he is often compared with Arthur Conan Doyle, and his lasting importance lies in the ambiguous hero he invented, halfway between criminal and avenger.

He was born into a wealthy family in Rouen, where his father owned a shipping business. After studying law he worked for a time in regional industry, but he was drawn to writing. In 1888 he moved to Paris to pursue a literary career, first as a journalist and then as a novelist. His first successful novel, Une femme, appeared in 1893, followed by works such as Des couples and Voici des ailes. He also wrote a play, which failed and led him to step back from the theatre for a while. In 1901 he published L'Enthousiasme, a novel with autobiographical touches.

The turning point came in 1905, when Pierre Lafitte, editor of the magazine Je sais tout, commissioned a story from him. Leblanc's contribution introduced the character who would become Lupin. The author reportedly intended it to be a one-off, but the series proved so popular that by 1907 he was writing full-length Lupin novels and devoting most of his later career to them. He seems to have resented being overshadowed by the character, and he tried to create other heroes, such as the private detective Jim Barnett, before eventually folding them into the Lupin stories.

Leblanc also wrote science fiction. La Frontière explores contact with beings from another world, and Le Formidable Événement imagines an earthquake that creates a new landmass between England and France. Late in life he settled at Étretat, where he bought a house he named Clos Lupin and wrote much of his later work. When war threatened in 1939 he left for Perpignan, where he died in 1941.

His legacy lives on chiefly through Lupin, who has inspired adaptations, comics and television series. Admirers of the character still visit the Normandy places where his stories are set, and his influence reaches later works such as the manga and anime Lupin III.