Maurice Leblanc

Maurice Marie Émile Leblanc was born 11 December 1864 and began writing Lupin stories in 1905 for the magazine Je sais tout, likely at editorial request. By 1907 the reviews and sales were strong enough that he graduated to full-length novels and effectively dedicated the rest of his career to the character. Like Conan Doyle before him, Leblanc appeared to resent his creation's success, viewing the crime fiction as a detraction from more respectable literary ambitions; he tried several times to launch other characters, including private eye Jim Barnett, but eventually merged them back into Lup…