1916-28: Brought up in a Paris suburb orphanage, he runs away at the age of 10 and joins an infant pickpocket gang. He is arrested at age 12 and locked away in a remand home.
1928-34: He takes part in multiple far-reaching robberies.
1935-39: He becomes a Parisian underworld legend by his renown as a thief, where he is known with the nickname "Lupin". He was charged with big thefts in museums, jewellers and art galleries but the evidence never was found.
1940: Betrayed by one of his accomplices he was caught in the act of selling 6 million francs worth of loot to a Dutch receiver. Sentenced to 15 years in jail he was confined in a maximum security prison. During the lawsuit the total amount of his multiple robberies, without trace of them, came to 140 million francs.
1940: The jail in which Lupin was imprisoned, was bombarded by the German army during the invasion. Lupin runs away.