Francois-Eugene Vidocq
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Eugene François Vidocq (born on July 23, 1775 in Arras, France - 1857) was a son of a baker. He was a playboy, a soldier, an honest businessman, victim of a frame-up, a fugitive determined to clear his name, unwilling companion of thieves and murderers, criminal-turned-spy and the world's first professional detective, who lived in 18th Century France. He is considered by many historians and law officials as "the father of modern criminal investigation."
As A Model in Literature
He was the model for fictional characters like Edmond Dantès in Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo, Edgar Allan Poe's Chevalier Dupin of The Murders in the Rue Morgue to Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot. His adventures, romance and accomplishments can be compared to Sigmund Freud, Cassanova and Houdini. His experiences was the inspiration of literary giants such as Honoré de Balzac, Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo. His false accusation and search for revenge were the stuff from which Dumas wove The Count of Monte Cristo. Vidocq's endless quest for freedom as an escaped convict gave Victor Hugo the character of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables. And Vidocq's later career as a manhunter was the model of Valjean's adversary, Inspector Javert. Much of Vidocq's method of works can be compared also to the character of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's immortal Sherlock Holmes.
Early Life
At the age of 14, he was a master swordsman. His looks can be compared to a matinee-idol type and girls swarmed in his arms. His father enlisted him in the army because he thought that his boy needs discipline. In 1789, the Bastille in Paris had fallen. The bloodbath of French Revolution was at hand, and throughout Europe, other nations wants to take advantage France's divided state. During his military years, he was a hero in his first battle and made corporal later. After five years of service in military, he retired.
Life As A Businessman, Prisoner and Fugitive
After retirement, he returned to Arras, married and became a shopkeeper. Without proper documents, he was arrested and imprisoned as a deserter. In prison, two fellow inmates accused him of forgery they themselves committed. Defenseless in their accusations and the sentence that will be given to him, he escaped in prison. The next ten years were nightmare of escapes. Those fresh escapes from prisons are the length and breadth of France-adventures where Dumas and Hugo derived and created their two masterpieces.
Disguises During His Fugitive Years
During his years as a fugitive, he developed a skill in the use of disguise and he turned it to the service of the law. His success in these roles was instantaneous and explosives. He created low-life characters that enabled him to mingle undetected with the mob such as:
- Jules- a strong-arm man, he swaggered in the arms of killers
- Jean-Louis- the fence with the gold-plated heart, he sought the company of killers
- As a tottery old gentleman- he won the confidence and sympathy of thieves' consorts and sentimental tarts.
As A Police Spy and Agent
In 1799, when he was arrested in Lyon, he met Dubois- the head of the Lyon police. He told his story to him and pleaded freedom to prove his innocence. Dubois bargained with him, offering freedom out of Lyon if he will use his knowledge in the underworld to help run down a gang of Persian thieves in Lyon. The thieves were identified and apprehended. Dubois kept his word and Vidocq was released.
To make a fresh start, Vidocq changed his name, obtained false papers and set up a clothing shop in Versailles. One day, he met a pair of former fellow inmates and threatened him with exposure as an escape convict. This time, he told this problem to Monsieur Henry- the head of the Criminal Division of Paris; that if Henry would help him, he would enter prison and act as an undercover agent. Henry accepted it; so Vidocq spent 21 months in prison, serving as an informer to Henry who was thus able to effect a remarkable series of arrests.
After his release from prison, he was elevated from being a police spy to a police agent, with the power of arrest. Receiving no salary, he worked on commission, collecting the reward money offered for captured criminals. His developed talents in disguise has elevated him to the official rolls of the Paris police; and now was given a salary.
The
Vidocq was convinced that crime cannot be controlled by then-current police methods; so he suggested to Henry that he will be allowed to organize a special branch of the criminal division modeled on Napoléon's political police. The force was to work undercover. In 1812- the organization was born and it was called Sûreté. Vidocq was the first chief of it and headed it until 1827. Its early members consisted largely of reformed criminals. By 1820- eight years after its formation, it blossomed into a 30-man team of experts, all of whom were former criminals that decreased the Paris crime rate by 40%. He later became so successful at catching criminals that it was estimated that Vidocq was responsible for the arrest of at least 20,000 criminals. Criminals were petrified at the drop of his name. During an operation, he would just shout his name and criminals would meekly form in line. At the height of his career he was sent to storm Paris' notorious thieves' den, which harbored the most dangerous human sharks in Europe. When an operation was declared it needed to be taken by 1000 men, Vidocq estimated that only 8 men with bags, pistols and handcuffs were needed. Vidocq, with his observations and encyclopedic knowledge of crime mentioned that every object in the scene of the crime can be scanned under a microscope. He also said that: "Criminals are not inventive. They will pull the same trick over and over again." Vidocq not only introduced record keeping (card-index system) for criminals (in terms of name, alias, type of crime, habit, methods and associates- that listed every known criminal in France), but also the "science of ballistics" (bullets) now used in modern police work. He was also a master of disguise and surveillance, held patents on unalterable bond paper and indelible ink, was the first to make plaster of Paris casts of foot/shoe impressions, and founded the first modern detective agency: Le Bureau des Renseignements. With his blazing reputation, he had received a full pardon for his earlier forgery conviction from the restored Bourbon king, Louis XVIII.
Later Career
Vidocq became a writer at the age of 52. He wrote the first book on crime and criminals to be written by a professional detective. It was an international best seller. In 1834, he established The Information Bureau- the first private-eye and credit-reporting service in the world. He was invited to Scotland Yard, in London for help in setting up its own Criminal Investigation Department. He solved his last crime case at 80- about a female bookkeeper who spent some income of an exporting company for a young gigolo. He died at 82, in one bright peacefully morning; leaving a legend, the foundations of science of criminology and 11 frustrated and beautiful women. It was learned that he had left his fortune to his housekeeper- and his name, it might be added to posterity.
References
- January 1978 issue of Reader's Digest Magazine on pp.29-33
External Links
- [Online Encyclopedia]
- [eCampus.com]
- [The House of Beadle & Adams]
- [The 1911 Edition Encyclopedia Love To Know]
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