Maurice Leblanc
Maurice Leblanc (1864–1941) was best known for his tales featuring the gentleman thief Arsène Lupin. Born in Rouen, France, Leblanc was inspired by the success of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories and invented Lupin as a French adversary for the great detective. Lupin appeared in dozens of novels and short stories and was the basis for several films. Of his great antihero, Leblanc once said, “Lupin follows me everywhere. He is not my shadow. I am his shadow.”