The French statesman Joseph Fouché (1759-1820) served as minister of police under Napoleon and was influential in the return of Louis XVIII to the throne in 1815.

Joseph Fouché was born on May 21, 1759, near Nantes. He received an excellent education with the Oratorians, first at Nantes and then at Paris. He took minor religious orders and became a teacher. When the Revolution began to transform French society, he was teaching at the Oratorians' college at Nantes and became a prominent member of the local Jacobin club. Elected to the National Convention in August 1792, he voted for the establishment of the republic and the death of Louis XVI.

Upon entering public life, Fouché renounced his clerical vows and his religion. As a representative of the Convention, first in the Vendée and then at Lyons (1793-1794), he earned the name of terrorist by crushing all opposition...