The Minister of Police () was the leader and most senior official of the French Ministry of Police. It was a position in the Government of France from 1796 to 1818 and briefly from 1852 to 1853.
History The office was created on 2 January 1796 by taking police powers away from the Minister of Interior and giving them to the new Minister of Police. The move was motivated by an apparent overload of the Interior department. The first minister, Philippe-Antoine Merlin, was appointed two days later, as Armand-Gaston Camus refused the office. The most famous minister was Joseph Fouché, whose service spanned over a decade.
It was a major French ministerial position under the Directory, Consulate, First Empire, and Restored Bourbon Dynasty. The position was merged into the Ministry of Interior in 1818, although it was briefly restored by Napoleon III in 1852.
Powers and functions
Officeholders First Republic Portrait Name Term Government Head of State Ref. Took office Left office Time in office Armand-Gaston Camus Directory Directory 1 Philippe-Antoine Merlin 2 Charles Cochon de Lapparent 3 Jean-Jacques Lenoir-Laroche 4 Pierre Jean-Marie Sotin de La Coindière 5 Nicolas Dondeau 6 Marie Jean François Philibert Lecarlier 7 Jean-Pierre Duval 8 Claude Sébastien Bourguignon 9 Joseph Fouché Consulate Napoléon Bonaparte
First Empire Portrait Name Term Government Emperor Ref. Took office Left office Time in office (9) Joseph FouchéDuc d'Otrante Napoléon Napoléon I 10 Anne Jean Marie René SavaryDuc de Rovigo
Restoration Portrait Name Term Government King Ref. Took office Left office Time in office 11 Jules Anglès Provisional Government Louis XVIII 12 Jacques ClaudeComte Beugnot Restoration
Hundred Days Portrait Name Term Government Emperor Ref. Took office Left office Time in office 13 Joseph FouchéDuc d'Otrante Hundred Days Napoléon I 14 Jean PeletComte de la Lozère
Kingdom of France Portrait Name Term Government King Ref. Took office Left office Time in office 15 Joseph FouchéDuc d'Otrante Talleyrand-Périgord Louis XVIII 16 Élie LouisDuc Decazes Richelieu
Second Republic Portrait Name Term Government President Ref. Took office Left office Time in office 17 Charlemagne de Maupas Napoléon II – III Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte
Notes
References