Eugene Francois Vidocq (1775-1857) was a French criminal who became
the founder and first director of the crime-detection Surete
Nationale as well as the head of the first known private detective
agency. Vidocq is widely regarded as the father of modern
criminology and of the French police department. He is also
considered to be the first private detective. Vidocq's successes as
an investigator inspired many Victorian authors who borrowed his
brilliance to embody their fictional heroes. The characters of
Sherlock Holmes is very much based on Vidocq; so are both Jean
Valjean and Inspector Javert in Les Miserables. Dickens mentions
Vidocq in Great Expectations; Melville cites him in Moby Dick; and
Poe refers to Vidocq's methods in Murders in the Rue Morgue.
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