Eugène-François Vidocq (French: [vidɔk]; July 24, 1775 – May 11, 1857) was a French criminal turned criminalist whose life story inspired several writers, including Victor Hugo, Edgar Allan Poe, and Honoré de Balzac. The former criminal became the founder and first director of the crime-detection Sûreté nationale as well as the head of the first known private detective agency. Vidocq is considered to be the father of modern criminology[1][2] and of the French police department.[3] He is also regarded as the first private detective.[4]
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Despite his position as chief of a police authority, Vidocq remained a wanted criminal. His forgery conviction had never been fully dismissed, so alongside complaints and denunciations, his superiors repeatedly received requests from the prison director of Douai, which they ignored. Finally, the Comte Jules Anglès, prefect of the Paris police, responded to a petition from Vidocq and requested an official pardon, which he received on 26 March 1817 from King Louis XVIII.
Huh, neat. I had no idea Vidocq was a real historical figure. My only exposure to the name was from the Gérard Depardieu Action/Sci-Fi/Steampunk movie of the same name: Vidocq (2001)
Huh, neat. I had no idea Vidocq was a real historical figure. My only exposure to the name was from the Gérard Depardieu Action/Sci-Fi/Steampunk movie of the same name: Vidocq (2001)
From the Wikipedia article:
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Huh, neat. I had no idea Vidocq was a real historical figure. My only exposure to the name was from the Gérard Depardieu Action/Sci-Fi/Steampunk movie of the same name: Vidocq (2001)
Yeah, I'm having some trouble believing he was real, to be honest. The story seems like some kind of tall tale.
Kinda reminds me of Frank Abagnale a bit. Similarly far-fetched sounding, but supposedly generally true.