UNIT 41

► Ex. I. Scan through the text. Work in pairs to question the text and to give answers.

Francois-Eugene Vidocq (1775-1857). A venturesome, sometimes rash youth, Vidocq had bright beginnings in the army, fighting in the Battles of Valmy and Jemappes in 1792. After having spent several periods in prison, mostly for petty offenses, and having tried his hand at a number of trades, Vidocq approached the police and offered to use his knowledge of the criminal world in exchange for his freedom. The police agreed, and Vidocq founded the police de surete ("security police") in 1810 and became its chief. A convict and a daredevil jail-breaker, Vidocq ran the Surete with the philosophy that to know and capture criminals one had to be a criminal oneself. His experience of life among thieves contributed to the effectiveness of his organization. Vidocq directed a network of spies and informers in a war against crime that was completely successful. His knowledge of the underworld and his reliance on criminals to catch criminals were the reasons for his success. In 1817, with only 12 full-time assistants, he was responsible for more than 800 arrests. He resigned in 1827 to start a paper and cardboard mill, where he employed former convicts. The business was a failure, and he again became chief of the detective department. Dismissed in 1832 for a theft that he allegedly organized, Vidocq created a private police agency, the prototype of modern detective agencies. It was, however, soon suppressed by the authorities. Known all over France as a remarkably audacious (brave and shocking) man, Vidocq was a friend of such authors as Victor Hugo, Honore de Balzac, Eugene Sue, and Alexandre Dumas pere. Several works were published under Vidocq's name, but it is doubtful that he wrote any of them. The figure of Vidocq is believed to have inspired Balzac's creation of the criminal genius Vautrin, one of the most vivid characters to appear in his The Human Comedy.