Joseph Fouché, 1st Duc d'Otrante, 1st Comte Fouché (French:[ʒozɛffuʃe]; 21 May 1759 – 26 December 1820) was a Frenchstatesman, revolutionary, andMinister of Police under First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, who later became a subordinate of EmperorNapoleon. He was particularly known for the ferocity with which he suppressed theLyon insurrection during theRevolution in 1793 and for being a highly competent minister of police under theDirectory, theConsulate, and theEmpire. In 1815, he served as President of the Executive Commission, which was the provisional government of France installed after theabdication of Napoleon. In English texts, his title is often translated asDuke of Otranto.

Joseph Fouché
Portrait as Minister of Police byClaude-Marie Dubufe, after an original byRené Théodore Berthon
President of the Executive Commission
In office 22 June 1815 – 7 July 1815
Monarch	Napoleon II
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	Office abolished (Talleyrand asPrime Minister)
Minister of Police
In office 20 July 1799 – 3 June 1810
Preceded by	Claude Sébastien Bourguignon-Dumolard
Succeeded by	Anne Jean Marie René Savary
In office 20 March 1815 – 22 June 1815
Preceded by	Jules Anglès
Succeeded by	Jean, comte Pelet de la Lozère
In office 7 July 1815 – 26 September 1815
Preceded by	Jean, comte Pelet de la Lozère
Succeeded by	Élie, duc Decazes
Deputy of the National Convention
In office 20 September 1792 – 2 November 1795
Constituency	Nantes
Personal details
Born	(1759-05-21)21 May 1759 Le Pellerin,Kingdom of France
Died	26 December 1820(1820-12-26) (aged 61) Trieste,Austrian Empire (nowItaly)
Political party	Jacobin(1789–1795) Girondist(1792–1793) Montagnard(1793–1794) Thermidorian(1794–1799) Bonapartist(1799–1814)
Signature

Fouché was born inLe Pellerin, a small village nearNantes. His mother was Marie Françoise Croizet (1720–1793), and his father was Julien Joseph Fouché (1719–1771). He was educated at the college of theOratorians at Nantes, and showed aptitude for literary and scientific studies. Wanting to become a teacher, he was sent to an institution kept by brethren of the same order inParis. There he made rapid progress, and was soon appointed to tutorial duties at the colleges ofNiort,Saumur,Vendôme,Juilly andArras. There he was initiated into Freemasonry at "Sophie Madeleine" lodge in 1788.^[1][2] At Arras he had had some encounters withMaximilien Robespierre (and his sisterCharlotte) both before the revolution and in the early days of theFrench Revolution (1789).^[3]

In October 1790, he was transferred by the Oratorians to their college at Nantes, in an attempt to control his advocacy of revolutionary principles - however, Fouché became even more of ademocrat. His talents andanti-clericalism brought him into favour with the population of Nantes, especially after he became a leading member of the localJacobin Club. When the college of the Oratorians was dissolved in May 1792, Fouché left the Oratorians, having never taken any major vows.^[3]

After the downfall of the monarchy on 10 August 1792 (following thestorming of the royal Tuileries Palace), he was elected as deputy for thedépartement of theLoire-Inférieure to theNational Convention, which proclaimed theFrench Republic on 22 September.^[3]

Fouché's interests brought him into contact with theMarquis de Condorcet and theGirondists, and he became a Girondist himself. However, their lack of support for the trial and execution ofKingLouis XVI (December 1792 - 21 January 1793) led him to join theJacobins, the more decided partisans of revolutionary doctrine. Fouché was strongly in favor of the king's immediate execution, and denounced those who "wavered before the shadow of a king".^[3]

The crisis that resulted from the declaration of war by the FrenchNational Convention againstGreat Britain and theDutch Republic (1 February 1793,seeFrench Revolutionary Wars), and a little later againstSpain, made Fouché famous as one of the Jacobin radicals holding power in Paris. While the armies of theFirst Coalition threatened the north-east of France, arevolt of the Royalist peasants inBrittany andLa Vendée menaced the Convention on the west. That body sent Fouché with a colleague, Villers, asrepresentatives on mission invested with almost dictatorial powers for the crushing of the revolt of "the whites" (the royalist colour). The ruthlessness with which he carried out these duties earned him a reputation, and he soon held the post of commissioner of the republic in thedépartement of theNièvre.^[4]

Together withPierre Gaspard Chaumette, he helped to initiate thedechristianization movement in the autumn of 1793. In theNièvre department, Fouché ransacked churches, sent their valuables to thetreasury, and helped establish theCult of Reason. He ordered the words "Death is an eternal sleep" to be inscribed over the gates to cemeteries. He also foughtluxury and wealth, wanting to abolish the use of currency. The new cult was inaugurated atNotre Dame de Paris by "The Festival of Reason".^[5] It was here that Fouché gave "the most famous example of its [dechristianization] early phase".^[6] Ironically enough, it was only a year previous that Fouché had been "an advocate of the role of the clergy in education," yet he was now "abandoning the role of religion in society altogether in favour of 'the revolutionary and clearly philosophical spirit' he had first wanted for education."^[7] Overall, the dechristianization movement "reflected the wholesale transformation that Jacobin and radical leaders were beginning to see as necessary for the survival of the Republic, and the creation of a republican citizenry."^[8]

Fouché went on toLyon in November withJean-Marie Collot d'Herbois to execute the reprisals of the Convention. Lyon had revolted against the Convention. Lyon, on 23 November, was declared to be in a "state of revolutionary war" by Collot and Fouché. The two men then formed the Temporary Commission for Republican Supervision. He inaugurated hismission with a festival notable for its obscene parody ofreligious rites. Fouché and Collot then brought in "a contingent of almost two thousand of the Parisian Revolutionary Army" to begin their terrorizing.^[9] "On 4 December, 60 men, chained together, were blasted withgrapeshot on the plain de Brotteaux outside the city, and 211 more the following day.^[10] Grotesquely ineffective, these mitraillades resulted in heaps of mutilated, screaming, half-dead victims, who were finished off with sabres and musket fire by soldiers physically sickened at the task."^[11] Events like this made Fouché infamous as "The Executioner of Lyons."^[12] The Commission was not happy with the methods used for killing the rebels so, soon after, "more normal firing squads supplemented theguillotine." These methods led to the carrying out of "over 1800 executions in the coming months."^[11] Fouché, claiming that "Terror, salutary terror, is now the order of the day here... We are causing much impure blood to flow, but it is our duty to do so, it is for humanity's sake," called for the execution of 1,905 citizens.^[12] As Napoleon's biographerAlan Schom has written:^[12]

Alas, Fouché's enthusiasm had proved a little too effective, for when the blood from the mass executions in the center of Lyonsgushed from severed heads and bodies into the streets, drenching the gutters of the Rue Lafont, the vile-smelling red flow nauseated the local residents, who irately complained to Fouché and demanded payment for damages. Fouché, sensitive to their outcry, obliged them by ordering the executions moved out of the city to the Brotteaux field, along the Rhône.

From late 1793 until spring 1794, every day "batch after batch of bankers, scholars, aristocrats, priests, nuns, and wealthy merchants and their wives, mistresses, and children" were taken from the city jails to Brotteaux field, tied to stakes, and dispatched by firing squads or mobs.^[12] Outwardly, Fouché's conduct was marked by the utmost savagery, and on his return to Paris early in April 1794, he thus characterised his policy: "The blood of criminals fertilises the soil of liberty and establishes power on sure foundations".^[5]

Robespierre was appalled by the atrocities Fouché committed while on mission.^[13] In addition, early in June 1794, at the time of the "Festival of the Supreme Being", Fouché went so far as to mock thetheistic revival. Robespierre exchanged angry communications with him, then tried to expel Fouché from theJacobin Club on 14 July 1794.^[5] Fouché, however, was working with his usual energy and plotted Robespierre's overthrow from behind the scenes while remaining in hiding in Paris. Because Robespierre was losing his influence and because Fouché was under the protection ofBarras, Fouché ultimately survived Robespierre's final wave of purges.

The remaining ultraleftists (Collot d'Herbois,Billaud-Varenne), and the moderates (Bourdon de l'Oise,Fréron) who had won the support of the nonaligned majority of the Convention (Marais), also opposed Robespierre. Fouché engineered Robespierre's overthrow, culminating in the dramaticCoup of the 9th Thermidor on 28 July 1794. Fouché is reported to have worked furiously on the overthrow:

Rising at early morn he would run round till night calling on deputies of all shades of opinion, saying to each and every one, "You perish tomorrow if he [Robespierre] does not".^[11]

Fouché describes his activities in this way in his memoirs:

Being recalled to Paris, I dared to call upon [Robespierre] from the tribune, to make good his accusation. He caused me to be expelled from the Jacobins, of whom he was the high-priest; this was for me equivalent to a decree of proscription. I did not trifle in contending for my head, nor in long and secret deliberations with such of my colleagues as were threatened with my own fate. I merely said to them... 'You are on the list, you are on the list as well as myself; I am certain of it!'^[11]

Fouché, as both a ruthless suppressor ofFederalist rebellion and one of the key architects of Robespierre's overthrow, embodied the merciless French politics of the republic era.

The ensuing movement in favour of more merciful methods of government threatened to sweep away the group of politicians who had been mainly instrumental in carrying through thecoup d'état.^[5] Nonetheless, largely because of Fouché's intrigues, they remained in power for a time after July. This also brought divisions in the Thermidor group, which soon became almost isolated, with Fouché spending all his energy on countering the attacks of the moderates. He was himself denounced byFrançois Antoine de Boissy d'Anglas on 9 August 1795, which caused his arrest, but the Royalist rebellion of13 Vendémiaire Year IV aborted his execution, and he was released in theamnesty which followed the proclamation of theConstitution of 5 Fructidor.

In the ensuingDirectory government (1795–1799), Fouché remained at first in obscurity, but the relations he had with thefar left, once headed byChaumette and now byFrançois-Noël Babeuf, helped him to rise once more. He is said to have betrayed Babeuf's plot of 1796 to the DirectorPaul Barras; however, later research tended to throw doubt on the assertion.^[5]

His rise from poverty was slow, but in 1797 he gained an appointment dealing with military supplies, which offered considerable opportunities for making money. After first offering his services to the Royalists, whose movement was then gathering force, he again decided to support the Jacobins and Barras. InPierre François Charles Augereau's anti-Royalistcoup d'état ofFructidor 1797, Fouché offered his services to Barras, who in 1798 appointed him French ambassador to theCisalpine Republic. InMilan, he was judged so high-handed that he was removed, but he was able for a time to hold his own and to intrigue successfully against his successor.^[5]

Early in 1799, he returned to Paris, and after a brief stint as ambassador atThe Hague, he became minister of police at Paris on 20 July 1799. The newly elected director,Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès, wanted to curb the excesses of the Jacobins, who had recently reopened their club. Fouché closed the Jacobin Club in a daring manner, hunting down thosepamphleteers and editors, whether Jacobins or Royalists, who were influential critics of the government, so that at the time of the return of generalNapoleon Bonaparte fromthe Egyptian campaign (October 1799), the ex-Jacobin was one of the most powerful men in France.^[5]

Knowing the unpopularity of the Directors, Fouché joined Bonaparte andSieyès, who were plotting the Directory's overthrow. His activity in furthering the18 Brumaire coup (9–10 November 1799) ensured him the favor of Bonaparte, who kept him in office.^[5]

In the ensuingFrench Consulate (1799–1804), Fouché efficiently countered the opposition to Bonaparte. He helped increase centralization and efficiency of the police in both Paris and the provinces.^[14] Fouché was careful to temper Napoleon's more arbitrary actions, which at times won him the gratitude even of the royalists. While exposing an unrealistic intrigue in which the duchesse de Guiche Ida d'Orsay was the chief agent, Fouché took care that she should escape.^[5]

Equally skilful was his action in the so-called Aréna-Ceracchi plot (Conspiration des poignards), in whichagents provocateurs of the police were believed to have played a sinister part. The chief "conspirators" were easily ensnared and were executed when thePlot of the Rue Saint-Nicaise (December 1800) enabled Bonaparte to act with rigour. This far more serious attempt (in which conspirators exploded a bomb near theFirst Consul's carriage with results disastrous to the bystanders) was soon seen by Fouché as the work of Royalists. When Napoleon showed himself eager to blame the still powerful Jacobins, Fouché firmly declared that he would not only assert but would prove that the outrage was the work of Royalists. However, his efforts failed to avert the Bonaparte-led repression of the leading Jacobins.^[5]

In other matters (especially in that known as thePlot of the Placards in the spring of 1802), Fouché was thought to have saved the Jacobins from the vengeance of the Consulate, and Bonaparte decided to rid himself of a man who had too much power to be desirable as a subordinate. On the proclamation of Bonaparte as First Consul for life (1 August 1802) Fouché was deprived of his office, a blow softened by the suppression of the ministry of police and by the assignment of most of its duties to an extended Ministry of Justice.^[5] Napoleon was, in fact, so intimidated by his minister of police that he did not dismiss the man personally, sending instead a servant with the information that – in addition to getting 35,000 yearly francs income as asenator and a piece of land worth 30,000 francs a year – he would also receive over a million francs from the reserve funds of the police.

After 1802, he went back tofreemasonry, attending "Les Citoyens réunis" lodge inMelun.Cambacérès who was Deputy Grand Master ofGrand Orient de France, helped him becoming Conservator of the "Grande Loge symbolique Générale" attached to the Supreme Council of France, where he would be in charge of Masonic Justice. There he could find a valuable source of information on Freemasons throughout the empire.^[15]

Fouché did become asenator and took half of the reserve funds of the police which had accumulated during his tenure of office. He continued, however, to intrigue through his spies, who tended to have more information than that of the new minister of police, and competed successfully for the favor of Napoleon at the time of theGeorges Cadoudal-Charles Pichegru conspiracy (February–March 1804),^[5] becoming instrumental in the arrest of theDuc d'Enghien. Fouché would later say of Enghien's subsequent execution, "It was worse than a crime; it was a mistake" (a remark also frequently attributed toCharles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord).^[16]

After the proclamation of theFirst French Empire, Fouché again became head of the re-constituted ministry of police (July 1804), and later ofInternal Affairs, with activities as important as those carried out under the Consulate. His police agents were omnipresent, and the terror which Napoleon and Fouché inspired partly accounts for the absence of conspiracies after 1804. After theBattle of Austerlitz (December 1805), Fouché uttered the famous words: "Sire, Austerlitz has shattered theold aristocracy; the Faubourg Saint-Germain no longer conspires".^[5]

Nevertheless, Napoleon did retain feelings of distrust, or even of fear, towards Fouché, as was proven by his conduct in the early days of 1808. While engaged in thecampaign of Spain, the emperor heard rumours that Fouché andCharles Maurice de Talleyrand, once bitter enemies, were having meetings in Paris during whichJoachim Murat,King of Naples, had been approached. At once he hurried to Paris, but found nothing to incriminate Fouché. In that year Fouché received the title ofDuke of Otranto,^[5] which Bonaparte created—under the French nameOtrante—aduché grand-fief (a rare, hereditary, but nominal honor) in the satellite Kingdom of Naples.

When, during the absence of Napoleon in theAustrian campaign of 1809, theBritishWalcheren expedition threatened the safety ofAntwerp, Fouché issued an order to thepréfet of the northerndépartements of the Empire for the mobilization of 60,000National Guards, adding to the order this statement: "Let us prove to Europe that although the genius of Napoleon can throw lustre on France, his presence is not necessary to enable us to repulse the enemy". The emperor's approval of the measure was no less marked than his disapproval of Fouché's words.^[17]

The next months brought further friction between emperor and minister. The latter, knowing Napoleon's desire for peace at the close of 1809, undertook to make secret overtures to the British cabinet ofSpencer Perceval. Napoleon opened negotiations only to find that Fouché had forestalled him. His rage against his minister was extreme, and on 3 June 1810 he dismissed him from his office. However, Napoleon never completely disgraced a man who might again be useful, and Fouché received the governorship of theRomedépartement. At the moment of his departure, Fouché took the risk of not surrendering to Napoleon all of certain important documents of his former ministry (falsely declaring that the some had been destroyed); the emperor's anger was renewed, and Fouché, on learning of this after his arrival toFlorence, prepared to sail to theUnited States.^[18]

Compelled by the weather and intense sea-sickness to put back into port, he found a mediator inElisa Bonaparte,Grand Duchess ofTuscany, thanks to whom he was allowed to settle inAix-en-Provence.^[19] He eventually returned to his domain ofPoint Carré. In 1812 he attempted in vain to turn Napoleon from the projectedinvasion of Russia, and on the return of the emperor in haste fromSmarhoń to Paris at the close of that year, the ex-minister of police was suspected of involvement in theconspiracy ofClaude François de Malet, which had been unexpectedly successful.^[18]

Fouché cleared his name and gave the emperor useful advice concerning internal affairs and the diplomatic situation. Nevertheless, the emperor, still distrustful, ordered him to undertake the government of theIllyrian provinces. On the break-up of theNapoleonic system in Germany (October 1813), Fouché was ordered on missions to Rome and thence to Naples, in order to watch the movements ofJoachim Murat. Before Fouché arrived in Naples, Murat invaded the Roman territory, whereupon Fouché received orders to return to France. He arrived in Paris on 10 April 1814 at the time when Napoleon was being compelled by his marshals toabdicate.^[18]

Fouché's conduct in this crisis was characteristic. As senator he advised the Senate to send a deputation toCharles, comte d'Artois, brother ofLouis XVIII, with a view to a reconciliation between the monarchy and the nation. A little later he addressed to Napoleon, then banished toElba, a letter begging him in the interests of peace and of France to withdraw to the United States. To the new sovereign Louis XVIII he sent an appeal in favour of liberty, and recommending the adoption of measures which would conciliate all interests.^[18]

The response to the latter was unsatisfactory, and when he found that there were no hopes of advancement, he entered into relations with conspirators who sought the overthrow of theBourbons. TheMarquis de Lafayette andLouis Nicolas Davout were involved in the issue, but their refusal to take the course desired by Fouché and others led to nothing being done.^[18]

Soon Napoleonescaped from Elba and made his way in triumph to Paris. Shortly before his arrival in Paris (19 March 1815), Louis XVIII sent Fouché an offer of the ministry of police, which he declined: "It is too late; the only plan to adopt is to retreat". He then foiled an attempt by Royalists to arrest him, and on the arrival of Napoleon he received for the third time the portfolio of police. That, however, did not prevent him from entering into secret relations with theAustrian statesmanKlemens Wenzel von Metternich inVienna, his aim being to prepare for all eventualities. Meanwhile, he used all his powers to induce the emperor to democratize his rule, and he is said to have caused the insertion of the words: "thesovereignty resides in the people—it is the source of power" in the declaration of theConseil d'État. But theautocratic tendencies of Napoleon could not be overridden, and Fouché, seeing the fall of the emperor to be imminent, took measures to expedite it and secure his own interests.^[18]

In 1814, Fouché had joined the invading allies and conspired against Napoleon. However, he joined Napoléon again during his return and was police minister during the latter's short-lived reign, theHundred Days. After Napoléon's ultimate defeat in theBattle of Waterloo, Fouché again started plotting against Napoleon and joined the opposition of the parliament. He headed the provisional government and tried to negotiate with the allies. He probably also aimed at establishing a republic with himself as head of state, with the help of some Republican freemasons.^[15] These plans were never realised, and the Bourbons regained power in July 1815. And again, Fouché's services were necessary: asTalleyrand, another notoriousintrigant, became the prime minister of the Kingdom of France, Fouché was named his minister of police: so he was a minister of King Louis XVIII, the brother of Louis XVI.

Ironically, Fouché had voted for the death sentence after the trial of Louis XVI. Thus, he belonged to theregicides, and ultra-royalists both within the cabinet and without could hardly tolerate him as a member of the government. Fouché, once a revolutionary using extreme terror against the Bourbon supporters, now initiated a campaign ofWhite Terror against real and imagined enemies of the Royalist restoration (officially directed against those who had plotted and supported Napoléon's return to power). Even Prime Minister Talleyrand disapproved of such practices, including the execution ofMichel Ney and compiling proscription lists of other military men and former republican politicians. Famous, or rather infamous, is the conversation between Fouché andLazare Carnot, who had been interior minister during the Hundred Days:

Carnot: "Where should I go then, traitor?"

Fouché: "Go where you want, imbecile!"^[20]

Fouché was soon relegated to the post of French ambassador in Saxony; Talleyrand himself lost his portfolio soon after, having been Prime Minister from 9 July to 26 September 1815. In 1816, the royalist authorities found Fouché's further servicesuseless, and he wasproscribed as a regicide. Fouche settled first inPrague, then inLinz and finally inTrieste, his considerable wealth allowed him to live comfortably and he spent his time writing his memoirs and seeing to the upbringing and education of his children. He died in 1820 and is now buried inFerrières-en-Brie.

Fouché wrote some politicalpamphlets andreports, the chief of which are:

• Réflexions sur le jugement de Louis Capet ("Thoughts on the trial ofLouis Capet", 1793)
• Réflexions sur l'éducation publique ("Thoughts on public education", 1793)
• Rapport et projet de loi relatif aux colleges ("Report and law project regarding colleges", 1793)
• Rapport sur la situation de Commune Affranchie Lyons ("Report on the situation of the breakawaycommune of Lyon", 1794)
• Lettre aux préfets concernant les prêtres, etc. ("Letter to thepréfets regarding priests etc.", 1801)
• The letters of 1815 noted above, and aLettre au duc de Wellington ("Letter to theDuke of Wellington", 1817)
• 1816 -Notice sur le duc d'Otrante : extraite et traduite de l'ouvrage allemand, sous le titre: "Zeitgenossen" c.à.d. "Nos contemporains celèbres", no. III
• 1816 -Fouché de Nantes, sa vie privée
• 1824 -Mémoires de Joseph Fouché, duc d'Otrante, ministre de la police générale
• 1998 -Ecrits révolutionnaires. Paris: Paris-ZanzibarISBN 2-911314-10-7

Joseph Fouché, 1st Duc d'Otrante, was a son of Julien Joseph Fouché (1719 – 1771) and wife Marie Françoise Croizet (1720 – 1793).

By his first marriage in September 1792 to Bonne Jeanne Coiquaud (1 April 1763 – 8 October 1812), he had seven children:^[21][22]

• Nièvre Fouché d'Otrante (10 August 1793 – August 1794).
• Joseph Liberté Fouché d'Otrante, 2nd Duc d'Otrante (22 July 1796 – 31 December 1862), married to Fortunée Collin de Sussy in 1824; they separated shortly after without issue.
• Égalité Fouché d'Otrante (1798), stillborn.
• Fraternité Fouché d'Otrante (1799), stillborn.
• Armand François Cyriac Fouché d'Otrante [sv], 3rd Duc d'Otrante (25 March 1800 – 26 November 1878). Unmarried and without issue.
• Paul Athanase Fouché d'Otrante [sv], 4th Duc d'Otrante (25 June 1801 – 10 February 1886). He later moved toSweden, where he married twice and left issue, which remained in Sweden.
• Joséphine Ludmille Fouché d'Otrante (29 June 1803 – 30 December 1893), married to Adolphe Comte de La Barthe de Thermes (1789–1869), and had issue (a son, Paul and a daughter, Isabelle).

By his second marriage to Ernestine de Castellane-Majastres (5 July 1788 – 4 May 1850), he had no children.

• TheAustrian novelistStefan Zweig wrote a biography entitledJoseph Fouché. Zweig takes a psychological approach to understanding the complicated minister of police. Zweig asks himself in the beginning of the book about how Fouché could "survive" in power from the revolution to the monarchy.
• Fouché also appears as one of the main characters inFor the King, a novel by Catherine Delors (Dutton, 2010), where his role in thePlot of the Rue Saint-Nicaise is discussed.^[23]
• Fouché was featured as one of the two main (and only) characters in the play byJean-Claude BrisvilleSupping with the Devil in which he is depicted dining withTalleyrand while deciding how to preserve their respective powers under the coming regime. The drama was hugely successful and turned into a filmThe Supper in 1992 directed byÉdouard Molinaro, starringClaude Rich andClaude Brasseur.
• Joseph Conrad portrayed Fouché briefly in his short storyThe Duel (1924), which was filmed in 1977 asThe Duellists, written by Gerald Vaughan-Hughes and directed byRidley Scott. Fouché is portrayed byAlbert Finney.
• Fouché appears as a recurring character in the Roger Brook series of historical novels byDennis Wheatley.
• Fouché is referenced on the first page of the novelPerfume: The Story of a Murderer byPatrick Süskind as a 'gifted abomination'.
• Fouché is an important character in the novelThe Hastening Wind by British novelistEdward Grierson, which concerns the Cadoudal conspiracy to assassinate Napoleon in 1804.
• InMountolive (1958), the third novel ofLawrence Durrell'sAlexandria Quartet, a French diplomat is said to have (ironically) complimented the cruel and venalEgyptianMinister of the Interior, Memlik Pasha, by telling him that he is "... regarded as the best Minister of Interior in modern history--indeed, since Fouché there has been no-one to equal you." Memlik is so taken with the comparison that he orders a bust of Fouché from France, which then sits in his reception room gathering dust.
• InBernard Cornwell's novelSharpe's Enemy, Fouché is mentioned as an early mentor of the French spymasterPierre Ducos, who becomes a bitter enemy ofRichard Sharpe in later novels.
• Fouché makes an appearance in theDoctor Who novelWorld Game byTerrance Dicks.
• Fouché appears in the novelThe Twisted Sword, byWinston Graham.
• The novelCaptain Cut-Throat byJohn Dickson Carr, set in Napoleonic France in 1805, when the invasion of England was planned, portrays Fouché scheming and counter-scheming various complicated plots.
• Fouché is a significant character inThe Carton Chronicles: The Curious Tale of Flashman's true father (2010) byKeith Laidler.
• Fouché was portrayed by French actorGérard Depardieu in the mini-seriesNapoleon.
• Fouché was portrayed by actor Stephen Jenn in the 1987 mini-seriesNapoleon and Josephine: A Love Story.
• In the Hollywood historical dramaReign of Terror (1949), Fouché is played byArnold Moss.
• He is a character inTreason's Tide byRobert Wilton, set during the summer of 1805. Originally published asThe Emperor's Gold in June 2011, it was re-issued under the new title in February 2013 by Corvus, an imprint ofAtlantic Books.
• Fouché is portrayed byMorris Perry in the BBC'sWar and Peace episode 11, Men of Destiny.
• Fouché is mentioned inDiary of a Man in Despair byFriedrich Reck-Malleczewen. Reck relates a meeting withHeinrich Himmler in 1934 at which Himmler asks Reck for information. Surprised at Himmler's request, Reck asks Himmler why the Fouché of theThird Reich needed information from him. Reck relates that Himmler clearly had no idea who Fouché was.
• The 48 Laws of Power cites him as an example of following Rule #35: Master The Art Of Timing.
• He is a character in The Paris Affair by Teresa Grant
• Fouché appears inAlexandre Dumas novelThe Knight of Sainte-Hermine as a sponsor of the title character's adventures.

• Cole, Hubert.Fouche: The Unprincipled Patriot. Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1971
• Delors, Catherine.For The King. E.P. Dutton, 2010
• Forssell, Nils.Fouche: The Man Napoleon Feared (1928) scholarly biographyonline
• Kurtz, Harold. "Fouché, Part I: Before Bonaparte 1759-1799"History Today 12#10 (1962)online
• Kurtz, Harold. "Fouché, Part II: The Statesman and His Fall"History Today (1962) 12#11online
• Mirante, Rand. Medusa's Head: The Rise and Survival of Joseph Fouché, Inventor of the Modern Police State. Archway Publishing, 2014
• Nelson, Marian Purrier, "The Napoleonic police under the administration of Joseph Fouche, 1799-1810" (MA thesis, U of Nebraska-Omaha, 1967).online.
• Sydenham, M. J. (1974).The First French Republic, 1792–1804. London: Batsford.ISBN 0-7134-1129-5.
• Zweig, Stefan.Joseph Fouche The Portrait Of A Politician (1930)online
•   This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Rose, John Holland (1911). "Fouché, Joseph, Duke of Otranto". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 734–736.
  • The Fouché Memoirs (not genuine, but they were apparently compiled, at least in part, from notes written by Fouché)
• Heraldica.org (Napoleonic heraldry)

• Works by Joseph Fouché atProject Gutenberg
• Works by or about Joseph Fouché at theInternet Archive
• Medusa's Head: The Rise and Survival of Joseph Fouché, Inventor of the Modern Police State, a book website