The character · The author · The books

Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief

Arsène Lupin is a fictional French gentleman burglar (gentleman-cambrioleur) created by Maurice Leblanc in 1905. A master of disguise who steals from the rich with wit and good manners, he appears in more than twenty novels and short-story collections published between 1905 and the 1930s, and is France’s most famous fictional thief.

Last updated: 11 November 2026

Original 1907 Pierre Lafitte cover of Arsène Lupin, gentleman-cambrioleur by Maurice Leblanc: a giant hand lifts a gentleman burglar in top hat, illustrated by Henri Goussé — Arsène Lupin, gentleman-cambrioleur — 1907 cover · Henri Goussé (1872–1914), 1907. Public domain — artist Henri Goussé died 1914, more than 70 years ago (PD in EU and US; published before 1931)

Who is Arsène Lupin?

Lupin is a burglar who behaves like a gentleman. He robs bankers, aristocrats and collectors, rarely the poor; he warns his victims in advance, leaves a visiting card, and prefers humiliating the police to hurting anyone. He has a hundred names and faces, and the stories often keep the reader guessing which character he really is. His great enemy is Inspector Ganimard of the Paris police.

He is often compared with Sherlock Holmes, and Leblanc made the comparison himself: Holmes appears in an early Lupin story, and after Arthur Conan Doyle objected, the detective was renamed Herlock Sholmès for the book Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès (1908).

Who created Arsène Lupin?

Portrait photograph of the French novelist Maurice Leblanc, creator of Arsène Lupin, resting his head on his hand, by Henri Manuel — Maurice Leblanc, c.1910 · Henri Manuel (1874–1947), 1910. Public domain — artist Henri Manuel died 1947, more than 70 years ago (PD in EU and US; published before 1931)

Maurice Leblanc (born in Rouen on 11 December 1864, died in Perpignan on 6 November 1941) was a French novelist and journalist from Normandy. He was writing literary short stories with little success when the publisher Pierre Lafitte asked him for a crime story for his new magazine, Je sais tout. The result was L’Arrestation d’Arsène Lupin. Its success turned Leblanc into the writer of Lupin for the rest of his life. His house in Étretat, on the Normandy coast, is now a museum, the Clos Arsène Lupin.

When did Arsène Lupin first appear?

In 1905, in Je sais tout, with L’Arrestation d’Arsène Lupin (“The Arrest of Arsène Lupin”). The story takes place on a transatlantic liner, the Provence, crossing from Le Havre to New York, when a wireless telegram announces that Lupin is on board under a false name. In 1907 it opened the first collection, Arsène Lupin, gentleman-cambrioleur. It is the story that the LupinFrench A1 course retells for beginners, one chapter per lesson.

Cover of the first issue of the French magazine Je sais tout (15 February 1905), where Arsène Lupin was born, showing a man and a woman in soft sepia, by René Lelong — Je sais tout no. 1, 1905 · René Lelong (1871–1933), 1905. Public domain — artist René Lelong died 1933, more than 70 years ago (PD in EU and US; published before 1931)

Which are the main Arsène Lupin books?

Year	French title	English title	What it is
1907	Arsène Lupin, gentleman-cambrioleur	Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Thief	Nine stories, starting with his arrest on a liner. LupinFrench A1 and A2.
1908	Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès	Arsène Lupin vs. Herlock Sholmes	Two long cases against a thinly disguised English detective. LupinFrench B1.
1909	L’Aiguille creuse	The Hollow Needle	A schoolboy detective, Isidore Beautrelet, and the secret of the French kings. LupinFrench B2.
1910	813	813	A dark political thriller around a mysterious number. LupinFrench C1.
1912	Le Bouchon de cristal	The Crystal Stopper	Lupin against a blackmailer, for once on the losing side.
1913	Les Confidences d’Arsène Lupin	The Confessions of Arsène Lupin	Short stories told by Lupin himself.
1924	La Comtesse de Cagliostro	The Countess of Cagliostro	The young Lupin’s first adventure. LupinFrench C2.

Leblanc also wrote a play with Francis de Croisset, Arsène Lupin, first staged at the Théâtre de l’Athénée in Paris in 1908 with André Brulé in the title role. It was soon performed in London and Berlin, and the engravings and photographs on this page come from that first wave of Lupin fever.

Is Arsène Lupin in the public domain?

Yes. Maurice Leblanc died in 1941, so in France and the rest of the European Union his works have been in the public domain since 1 January 2012 (70 years after the author’s death). In the United States, every book published before 1931 is in the public domain, which covers all the titles above. That is why LupinFrench can quote the original French freely. The pictures on this site are also in the public domain; each one is credited below it.

Is the Netflix series Lupin based on the books?

It is inspired by them. In the Netflix series Lupin (2021), the hero, Assane Diop, is a modern Parisian who models himself on Leblanc’s character after reading the books. The series is a separate, copyrighted work. LupinFrench is based only on Leblanc’s original texts and has no connection with Netflix, its producers or the Leblanc estate.

Can I read Arsène Lupin in French as a beginner?

Not in the original, not yet: Leblanc writes elegant literary French of 1905, with the passé simple and long sentences. That is the point of LupinFrench. Level A1 retells his first story in the present tense with the 500-odd words a beginner can manage, and each level gets closer to his text. Start with lesson 1, “A big ship”, or see the French readers by level. If you want the originals now, they are on French Wikisource.

Pictures of Arsène Lupin

1909 theatre poster for the Arsène Lupin play: actor André Brulé in top hat and long coat writing the name Arsène Lupin on the wall, by Henri-Edmond Rudaux — Arsène Lupin theatre poster, 1909 · Henri-Edmond Rudaux (1870–1927), 1909. Public domain — artist Henri-Edmond Rudaux died 1927, more than 70 years ago (PD in EU and US; published before 1931)

Femina magazine page, 1908: actor André Brulé as Arsène Lupin in top hat between the playwrights Maurice Leblanc and Francis de Croisset — André Brulé and the authors, 1908 · Unknown photographer (Femina), 1908. Public domain — anonymous/unattributed work published in 1908, more than 70 years ago (PD in EU) and before 1931 (PD in US)

1909 illustration: a young man in evening dress sits on a table beside an older detective in hat and overcoat, from the American edition of Arsène Lupin — Lupin and the detective · H. Richard Boehm (1871–1914), 1909. Public domain — artist Henry Richard Boehm died 1914, more than 70 years ago (PD in EU and US; published before 1931)

1913 American cover by Edward Dalton Stevens for Leblanc’s The Crystal Stopper: a man examines a small crystal object under dramatic light — The Crystal Stopper, 1913 · Edward Dalton Stevens (1878–1939), 1913. Public domain — artist Edward Dalton Stevens died 1939, more than 70 years ago (PD in EU and US; published before 1931)

Poster by Francisque Poulbot announcing Maurice Leblanc’s novel 813 in Le Journal: a calm gentleman faces a German officer in a white coat — “Arsène Lupin continues” — 813 poster · Francisque Poulbot (1879–1946), 1910. Public domain — artist Francisque Poulbot died 1946, more than 70 years ago (PD in EU and US; published before 1931)

Cover of Il Romanzo Mensile (May 1915) by Riccardo Salvadori: a masked Arsène Lupin in hat and overcoat for the Italian edition of 813 — Arsenio Lupin, Italy 1915 · Riccardo Salvadori (1866–1927), 1915. Public domain — artist Riccardo Salvadori died 1927, more than 70 years ago (PD in EU and US; published before 1931)