C. Auguste Dupin
Sign in to savefictional French crime-solver created by Edgar Allan Poe
Key facts
- First appearance
- The Murders in the Rue Morgue
- Last appearance
- The Purloined Letter
- Created by
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Gender
- Male
- Occupation
- Detective (hobbyist)
- Nationality
- French
via Wikipedia infobox
~25 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Le Chevalier C. Auguste Dupin ( French: [oɡyst dypɛ̃]) is a fictional character created by Edgar Allan Poe. Dupin made his first appearance in Poe's 1841 short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", widely considered the first detective fiction story. He reappears in "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt" (1842) and "The Purloined Letter" (1844).
Dupin is not a professional detective and his motivations for solving the mysteries change throughout the three stories. Using what Poe termed "ratiocination", Dupin combines his considerable intellect with creative imagination, even putting himself in the mind of the criminal. His talents are strong enough that he appears able to read the mind of his companion, the unnamed narrator of all three stories.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “C. Auguste Dupin” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.