Louis Lépine

Louis Jean-Baptiste Lépine (6 August 1846 – 9 November 1933) was a French lawyer, politician and administrator who was Governor General of Algeria and twice Préfet de Police with the Paris Police Prefecture from 1893 to 1897 and again from 1899 to 1913. On each occasion he assumed office during a period of instability in the governance of the French state seen by his supporters as a man who could bring order. He earned the nickname of "The Little Man with the Big Stick" for his methodology in handling large Parisian crowds. During his periods as Préfet de police he instigated a series of reforms that modernised the French Police Force . An efficient and clear-sighted administrator he introduced scientific analysis into policing with reforms in forensic science and the training of detectives.Lépine was also responsible for convening and re-invigorating the Exposition Universelle whereby an annual competition known as the Concours Lépine was introduced for inventors and innovators to have their work presented and acclaimed. An annual competion that has now had 120-plus editions. Louis Lépine studied law in his home city of Lyon and in Paris and Heidelberg. He served with distinction in the French Army during the Franco-Prussian War from 1870 to 1871. Serving as a sergeant major at Belfort in the Alsace region, his unit was besieged and continually attacked by the Prussians. It surrendered only after the hostilities had ceased. Lépine was awarded the Médaille militaire for his bravery. He then embarked on a career as a lawyer and public administrator, that included provincial postings as deputy prefect of Lapalisse, Montbrison, Langres and Fontainebleau and then prefect of the Indres, the Loire and Seine-et-Oise. In 1893 Lépine became prefect of police of the Seine (Paris) at a time when Paris and indeed France was politically volatile. The perceived failure of the previous Prefect Henri-Auguste Lozé to quell serious student riots in 1893 resulted in Lépine’s appointment.