Eugène-François Vidocq: Biography Of The First Private Detective
He has rightly been called “the first detective in history.” And it is that The world of criminal investigation owes a lot to Eugène-François Vidocq since it was he who, at the beginning of the 19th century, established the foundations of modern criminology.
On the other hand, what would detective literature have been without him? Edgar Allan Poe himself was inspired by Vidocq (or so they say) to give life to the detective Auguste Dupin of The crimes of morgue Streetand Émile Gaboriau, the famous French crime novel writer, took him as a model for his Monsieur Lecoq (the name, with that “q” that closes the surname, is already quite “suspicious”).
But if Eugène-François Vidocq is famous for something (in some sources, his name appears backwards, François-Eugène) it is for having inspired one of the greatest characters in universal literature: Jean Valjean, the ex-convict whom he gave life to. Victor Hugo in his novel The Miserables and that, as we will see, has many similarities with our character.
Brief biography of Eugène-François Vidocq: from ex-convict to detective
Vidocq’s life is worthy of an adventure film. In fact, two film productions have already been made based on his story: Vidocqthe myth, directed in 2001 by Pitof and starring Gérard Depardieu, and the most recent The Emperor of Paris (2018), by Jean-François Richet, in which Vincent Cassel brings the legendary character to life.
Even his contemporaries knew what a rich life the ex-con turned detective was. When, in 1828, his Memories (in four volumes no less), these were an unprecedented bestseller. Everyone wanted to know about the famous Vidocq, the mythical thief who had managed to found the first detective agency in history.
Robberies, prisons and desertions
It can be said about Vidocq, as the saying goes, that he was already pointing out ways. And it is that At only thirteen years old, he reached into the money drawer of his father, a modest baker from the city of Arras, in French Artois , and steals no less than 2,000 francs from him, with which he intends to embark to America. Before that, according to some sources, he was already stealing loaves of bread from his own father, in cahoots with his brother.
When the father finds out about the robbery, he denounces little Eugène-François and the teenager spends ten days in jail. When he leaves, he does not seem to have learned his lesson (he was, in addition to being a thief, frivolous, seductive and quarrelsome), so the jaded Monsieur Vidocq senior enlists him in the army, where, for a change, he becomes a soldier with little or no exemplary character. . It seems that on one occasion he attacks a superior (an act that is punishable by capital punishment) when he refuses to fight a duel with him, so he must flee quickly and take refuge again in Arras.
The act of contrition he performs before his family will not last long. After serving in the French revolutionary army, Vidocq enlisted in the Austrian counterrevolutionary forces , the supposed enemies of their homeland. Apparently, young François (he is almost twenty years old) cares little about which side his sympathies lie on. The only thing she is interested in (and the only thing she will be interested in apparently in his entire life) is his own benefit.
From then on, Vidocq’s existence until his recruitment by the Paris police was going to be a pilgrimage through all the prisons in France, where sometimes he served his sentence and other times, he escaped directly, using a tactic that later will give him great fame: the disguise. And between jail and jail, robberies and various goings-on. In Belgium, for example, he joins a gang of criminals, after which he returns to the French capital and squanders the money on parties and prostitutes. In 1801, in Boulogne, he joins a privateer ship that is dedicated to raiding English ships (remember that it is the time of the Napoleonic wars), for which he is taken back to prison… Slowly, the legend is forged .
The criminal who works for the police
His steps are not very clear until he settles permanently in Paris in the pay of the city police. In his Memoirs we find obvious exaggerations and distortions of reality, if not direct inventions. It is difficult to reconstruct Vidocq’s career before 1809, when, after being arrested by the Parisian police, he made a curious proposal to them
Again we can question the veracity of the anecdote, but this is how it has transcended history. It seems that the police finally catch the criminal, but, when they take him to prison, Vidocq proposes that they hire him to work for them. To the surprise of the person in charge, François smiles and tells them: “Okay, take me to prison. If I can get rid of these shackles along the way and return here with you, you will hire me.”
No sooner said than done. Surprised by the prisoner’s efficiency, the superior agrees to hire Vidocq’s services. In the first moment, Your mission is to remain alert in the Paris prisons (Bicêtre and La Force), and tip off the police about what the prisoners are telling each other there And Vidocq plays his role so extremely well that soon the authorities simulate an escape to get him out of there. From now on, Vidocq will work for them directly on the streets of Paris.
The Surete
The presence of Eugène-François Vidocq in Paris leads to the arrest of hundreds of criminals highly sought after by the police. The ex-convict is unique in tracking, sniffing out the clues and finding the aforementioned. Apparently, It is thanks to him that the police investigation takes on a new dimension ; Various innovations are attributed to him, among them, the first ballistics analyses, through which it was possible to begin to determine from which weapon a bullet had been fired.
In 1811, and under the protection of Prefect Pasquier, François proposed the creation of the Security Brigade (embryo of the future Surete Nationale), and he adheres to it at the command of twelve detectives, mostly ex-criminals like him. Without a doubt, these procedures would be more than debatable today, but at the beginning of the 19th century there were not many scruples, as we see.
Various events take place in France in that turbulent 19th century; After Napoleon’s empire and the monarchical restoration, new revolutions come. After that of 1830 and the accession of Louis-Philippe of Orléans to the throne, Eugène-François falls into disgrace and is forced to leave the Sûreté A new stage begins for the incombustible Vidocq.
The detective agency that Vidocq founded in 1833 is considered the first in history, since, although at the end of the 18th century there were already certain “information agencies”, François’s true innovation was to add private investigation.
Vidocq is almost sixty years old when he takes charge of The bureau des renseignements , which will not only be dedicated to economic issues, but also private issues. In order not to lose the habit, the detectives under his command are also ex-convicts. The fact is that the Bureau It was incredibly successful, which only fueled Vidocq’s fame.
Suspicious, the “official” police did everything possible to close our protagonist’s business. It seemed that they would succeed in 1842, the year in which François was accused of illegal detention and embezzlement. Vidocq appealed and was acquitted, although the issue of embezzlement should not be so far-fetched, since the ex-convict had accumulated no less than a million francs (and, as an agent of the Surete“only” earned 5000 a year).
The end of Bureau It came in 1847, when, old and tired, Vidocq retired from the public scene and closed the business. By then he was already a celebrity in France, because his Memories (1828) had been a resounding success, as were the novels that, encouraged by the triumph, he wrote later (Thievesfrom 1830, and The true mysteries of Paris1844). In his literary work he fuses the memories of a lifetime searching the underworld, between robberies, duels (he was a troublemaker without settlement) and love affairs
The one who was a true media star in the 19th century is almost unknown in our world today. The name of Eugène-François Vidocq hardly sounds familiar to anyone, unless one evokes his alter ego literary: Jean Valjean, the eternal convict of The Miserables convicted of having stolen a piece of bread.
