Maurice Leblanc

1864: Maurice Leblanc is born in Rouen, France to a wealthy shipping owner.
1887: His first novel, Une Femme, is published.
1905: Arsène Lupin makes his first appearance in "L'Arrestation D'Arsène Lupin" published in the magazine Je sais tout.
1907: The first Lupin novel, Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Cambrioleur, is published.
6 Nov 1941: Maurice Leblanc dies in Perpignan having penned over sixty novels and short stories.

A more complete history is available from Pegasos, but the best source of information on Arsène Lupin is Arsène on the Web!. For a sample of Arsène Lupin's exploits, read "The Crystal Stopper" available via Project Gutenberg. If you have a Palm OS device, you can also read "The Woman with Two Smiles" available at memoware.com.