Pierre Jules Baroche (; 18 November 1802,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

29 October 1870,

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

) was a French statesman, who served as minister in several of

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

's governments. He was

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

from 15 March 1850 to 24 January 1851,

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

from 10 April 1851 to 26 October 1851, President of the ''

Conseil d'État In France, the (; Council of State) is a governmental body that acts both as legal adviser to the executive branch and as the supreme court for administrative justice, which is one of the two branches of the French judiciary system. Establ ...

'' from 30 December 1852, briefly Minister of Foreign Affairs again from 4 January 1860 to 24 January 1860,

Minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

from 3 December 1860, and

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

(and of Public Worship) from 23 June 1863 to 17 July 1869. Born to a family of shopkeepers, Baroche received his ''

baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

'' in 1820 and pursued a legal education, becoming a lawyer in 1823. He became moderately well-known and somewhat notorious as a lawyer, particularly in his pleadings before the '' Cours des pairs'' (''Court of Peers''). He defended former

Defense Minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

Amédée Louis Despans-Cubières from corruption charges before the peers in 1847. Baroche ran for office unsuccessfully in

Seine-et-Oise Seine-et-Oise () is a former department of France, which encompassed the western, northern and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris. Its prefecture was Versailles and its administrative number was 78. Seine-et-Oise was disbanded in ...

in 1840, 1842 and 1846, finally winning a

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

seat in Charente-Inférieure in 1847. He strongly opposed the government of

François Guizot François Pierre Guillaume Guizot (; 4 October 1787 – 12 September 1874) was a French historian, orator and Politician, statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics between the July Revolution, Revolution of 1830 and the Revoluti ...

and took part in its overthrow. A sincere republican during the

1848 revolution The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

, he represented Charente-Inférieure at the

constituent assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

of the Second Republic. After 1848, however, he became associated with right wing politics and particularly with the purge of leftist and royalist judges from the French courts and with the defense of the many press censorship laws passed as the republic became increasingly authoritarian. He resigned his ministry in 1851 in a disagreement with French president

Louis Napoleon Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

, and he refused to participate in the coup d'état of 14 January 1852 that established the Second Empire, but became president of the ''Conseil d'État'' in December of the same year, remaining in that powerful post for most of the next decade. He was appointed a

Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

on 3 February 1855. Following liberal reforms in 1860, Napoleon III appointed Baroche to a ministry without portfolio, while he was still president of the ''Conseil d'État'', in order to shore up his support in parliament. Baroch's appointment to the Ministry of Justice was his principal role in the 1860s, but in the end, as the political tide turned against the Empire, he declined in popularity and was dismissed by the Emperor in 1869, although he appointed Baroche to the

French Senate The Senate (, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly (France), National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. It is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' and ...

. Nonetheless, Baroche was so closely linked to the Empire and its repressive policies that, like many other high-ranking officials in the imperial government, he fled to Great Britain as the Second Empire crumbled, dying shortly afterwards on the island of Jersey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baroche, Pierre-Jules 1802 births 1870 deaths Politicians from Paris Party of Order politicians Bonapartists French interior ministers Ministers of religious affairs of France Government ministers of France Members of the 7th Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy Members of the 1848 Constituent Assembly Members of the National Legislative Assembly of the French Second Republic Members of Parliament for Charente-Maritime French senators of the Second Empire French general councillors Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery