Minister of Police (France)

The Minister of Police (French: Ministre de la 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.

Minister of Police
Ministre de la Police
Longest serving Joseph Fouché
Ministry of Police
Status	Abolished
Member of	Government Council of Ministers
Term length	No fixed term
Formation	2 January 1796
First holder	Philippe Antoine Merlin de Douai
Final holder	Charlemagne de Maupas
Abolished	21 June 1853
Succession	Minister of Interior

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.^[1] 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

No.	Portrait	Name		Term[a]			Government	Head of State	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
Ministry established
[b]			Armand-Gaston Camus	2 January 1796 12 Nivôse Year IV	4 January 1796 14 Nivôse Year IV	2 days	Directory	Directory	[2]
1			Philippe-Antoine Merlin	4 January 1796 14 Nivôse Year IV	3 April 1796 14 Germinal Year IV	90 days			[3]
2			Charles Cochon de Lapparent	3 April 1796 14 Germinal Year IV	16 July 1797 28 Messidor Year V	1 year, 104 days			[4]
3			Jean-Jacques Lenoir-Laroche	16 July 1797 28 Messidor Year V	26 July 1797 8 Thermidor Year V	10 days			[5]
4			Pierre Jean-Marie Sotin de La Coindière	26 July 1797 8 Thermidor Year V	13 February 1798 25 Pluviôse Year VI	202 days			[6]
5			Nicolas Dondeau	13 February 1798 25 Pluviôse Year VI	16 May 1798 27 Floréal Year VI	92 days			[7]
6			Marie Jean François Philibert Lecarlier	16 May 1798 27 Floréal Year VI	29 October 1798 8 Brumaire Year VII	166 days			[8]
7			Jean-Pierre Duval	29 October 1798 8 Brumaire Year VII	23 June 1799 5 Messidor Year VII	237 days			[9]
8			Claude Sébastien Bourguignon	23 June 1799 5 Messidor Year VII	20 July 1799 2 Thermidor Year VII	27 days			[10]
9			Joseph Fouché	20 July 1799 2 Thermidor Year VII	18 May 1804 28 Floréal Year XII	4 years, 303 days			[11]
							Consulate	Napoléon Bonaparte

First Empire

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Government	Emperor	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
(9)			Joseph Fouché Duc d'Otrante	18 May 1804	3 June 1810	6 years, 16 days	Napoléon	Napoléon I	[c]
10			Anne Jean Marie René Savary Duc de Rovigo	3 June 1810	3 April 1814	3 years, 304 days			[12]

Restoration

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Government	King	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
11			Jules Anglès	3 April 1814	13 May 1814	40 days	Provisional Government	Louis XVIII	[13]
12			Jacques Claude[d] Comte Beugnot	13 May 1814	3 December 1814	244 days	Restoration		[14]

Hundred Days

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Government	Emperor	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
13			Joseph Fouché Duc d'Otrante	20 March 1815	23 June 1815	95 days	Hundred Days	Napoléon I	[15]
14			Jean Pelet Comte de la Lozère	23 June 1815	7 July 1815	14 days			[16]

Kingdom of France

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Government	King	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
15			Joseph Fouché Duc d'Otrante	9 July 1815	26 September 1815	79 days	Talleyrand-Périgord	Louis XVIII	[17]
16			Élie Louis Duc Decazes	26 September 1815	29 December 1818	3 years, 94 days	Richelieu

Second Republic

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Government	President	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
17			Charlemagne de Maupas	22 January 1852	21 June 1853	1 year, 150 days	Napoléon II – III	Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte	[18]
Ministry disestablished

Notes

1. Dates in italic correspond to the French Republican calendar, used between 1793 (and retroactively 1792) and 1805.
2. Appointed, but refused.
3. Remained in office at the proclamation of the Empire.
4. As Director General of Police.