Pierre Jules Baroche (18 November 1802,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

29 October 1870,

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

) 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 the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

'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 A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

from 10 April 1851 to 26 October 1851, President of the '' Conseil d'État'' 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 either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...

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 v ...

(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 Peers may refer to: People * Donald Peers * Edgar Allison Peers, English academician * Gavin Peers * John Peers, Australian tennis player * Kerry Peers * Mark Peers * Michael Peers * Steve Peers * Teddy Peers (1886–1935), Welsh international ...

''). He defended former

Defense Minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

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

Seine-et-Oise Seine-et-Oise () was the former department of France encompassing the western, northern and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris.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 repre ...

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 statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics prior to the Revolution of 1848. A conservative liberal who opposed the a ...

and took part in its overthrow. A sincere republican during the 1848 revolution, 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, and he refused to participate in the coup d'état of 14 January 1852 that established the

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

, 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. 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 (french: Sénat, ) 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. The French Senate is made up of 34 ...

. 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.

External links

Jules Baroche
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baroche, Pierre-Jules 1802 births 1870 deaths Politicians from Paris Party of Order politicians Bonapartists French interior ministers French Ministers of Religious Affairs 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 French Senators of the Second Empire Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery