We’re talking about Eugene-Francois Vidocq.
Detail of a poster for a film about Vidocq from 1922.
And he was absolutely right.
Vidocq was born in Arras in 1775, into a lower-middle-class family.
So he returned to the starting point in Arras.
He made friends with several inmates there.
Although she later admitted that the wounds she showed were self-inflicted, the other charges proved decisive.
But he was not destined to lead a peaceful existence.
Vidocq and the Brigade de Surete arresting bandits, according to a 19th-century engraving.
With them, crime was forcefully curbed.
He even faked his own murder when suspicions arose about his double activity in the underworld.
An example of the filing system created by Alphonse Bertillon based on the work of Vidocq.
By then, the national political situation had changed radically.
In November 1832, citing his wife’s illness as a pretext, he resigned again.
The Surete was dissolved and reorganized with agents without criminal records.
“, replacing it with “I am Hercule Poirot!”.
This time he was not spared and was sentenced to five years in prison.
It is unknown where the man considered the father of modern criminology was buried.
This article was originally published inLa Brujula Verde.
It has been translated from Spanish and republished with permission.
