Célestin Hennion
Encyclopedia
Célestin Hennion CVO (8 September 1862 - 14 March 1915) was a French police officer who rose to head the Prefecture of Police
. He is notable for his reorganisation of the Préfecture and the introduction of the Tiger's Brigades . In France, he is considered the father of modern policing.
in 1862, to Joseph Ghislain Hannion, a farm labourer, and Mary Catherine Basilaire and he was educated at Lycee Le Quesnoy
. After leaving grammar school he joined the French Army
, and was posted to Tunisia
as part of the 110th Infantry Regiment, from 1880 until 1885 during which time Tunisia became a French Protectorate.
. During the 1890s, Hennion investigated the counter-evidence provided by Georges Picquart
during the Dreyfus affair
, becoming a strong supporter of Alfred Dreyfus
. Hennion also thwarted several attacks against political figures and the state, including the 1899 coup d'état
by Paul Déroulède
and was dispatched with additional troops to quell unrest in Rennes
during the second Dreyfus trial. In 1899 Hennion was given the responsibility of protecting the French Head of State.
On 30 January 1907, Hennion was made the Director of General Security by Georges Clemenceau
, and that year Hennion suggested the creation of mobile police brigades, which later became known as the Brigades du Tigre. Hennion was part of modernist movement within the French republic that included people like Aristide Briand
and the other great police reformer of the age Louis Lépine
who brought new ideas into French policing introducing forensic equipment and methods of investigation.
In 1910 Hennion set up the first police training school, a vocational school for active service staff of the 'Prefecture de Police'. The next year, Hennion set up the Brigade Renseignements Généraux, which later become the Direction centrale des renseignements généraux
, a committed intelligence service of the French Police. Hennion continually pushed to separate the policing within France from political control, and in 1911 unsuccessfully attempted to replace the de facto mayoral command with that of the chief of police.
Hennion was appointed Préfet de Police on 31 March 1913, succeeding Louis Lépine. He was in post for too short a period to be totally effective but he continued the reforms of his predecessor dividing the police force into three main departments, judicial, intelligence and policy agenda. Ill health forced his retirement from the post on 2 September 1914.
Hennion died in March 1915 and he is buried in the family tomb in Gommegnies
, France.
, was made a Knight of the Order of Nichan Iftikhar
and an Officier de la Légion d'honneur
. For his services as a senior policeman during visits to France by King Edward VII
he was appointed Honorary Member (Fourth Class) of the Royal Victorian Order
in 1906 and promoted to Honorary Commander in 1908.
television programme Who Do You Think You Are? revealed that British television presenter Davina McCall
is Hennion's great-granddaughter. Pierre, Hennion's son and McCall's grandfather, gave McCall his father's Royal Victorian Order
medal, which she showed on the programme. In the programme, which first aired on 15 July 2009, Davina learned of Hennion's story from historians Jean-Marc Berliere
and Simon Kitson
as well as from Françoise Hennion (the policeman's granddaughter) and from Dreyfus's great-granddaughter, Yael Ruiz.
, Hennion was played by Mathias Mlekuz.
Prefecture of Police
The Prefecture of Police , headed by the Prefect of Police , is an agency of the Government of France which provides the police force for the city of Paris and the surrounding three suburban départements of Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, and Val-de-Marne...
. He is notable for his reorganisation of the Préfecture and the introduction of the Tiger's Brigades . In France, he is considered the father of modern policing.
Early life
Hennion was born in GommegniesGommegnies
-References:*...
in 1862, to Joseph Ghislain Hannion, a farm labourer, and Mary Catherine Basilaire and he was educated at Lycee Le Quesnoy
Le Quesnoy
Le Quesnoy is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.Le Quesnoy's inhabitants are known as Quercitains.- Economy :The town of Le Quesnoy has somehow missed much of the Industrial Revolution. Unlike the neighboring towns of Valenciennes or Maubeuge, iron/steel works did not take hold...
. After leaving grammar school he joined the French Army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
, and was posted to Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
as part of the 110th Infantry Regiment, from 1880 until 1885 during which time Tunisia became a French Protectorate.
Police career
On returning to France he joined the police force and in 1886 was an inspector in a specialised railways squad. Hennion had a rapid rise through the force, and was moved into intelligence work where he investigated organisations intent on over-throwing the Third RepublicFrench Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
. During the 1890s, Hennion investigated the counter-evidence provided by Georges Picquart
Georges Picquart
Marie Georges Picquart , was a French army officer and Minister of War. He is best known for his role in the Dreyfus Affair.-Early career:...
during the Dreyfus affair
Dreyfus Affair
The Dreyfus affair was a political scandal that divided France in the 1890s and the early 1900s. It involved the conviction for treason in November 1894 of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent...
, becoming a strong supporter of Alfred Dreyfus
Alfred Dreyfus
Alfred Dreyfus was a French artillery officer of Jewish background whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most tense political dramas in modern French and European history...
. Hennion also thwarted several attacks against political figures and the state, including the 1899 coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
by Paul Déroulède
Paul Déroulède
- Early life :Déroulède was born in Paris. He was published first as a poet in the magazine Revue nationale, with the pseudonym "Jean Rebel". In 1869 he produced, at the Théâtre Français, a one-act drama in verse named Juan Strenner.- Military career :...
and was dispatched with additional troops to quell unrest in Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
during the second Dreyfus trial. In 1899 Hennion was given the responsibility of protecting the French Head of State.
On 30 January 1907, Hennion was made the Director of General Security by Georges Clemenceau
Georges Clemenceau
Georges Benjamin Clemenceau was a French statesman, physician and journalist. He served as the Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909, and again from 1917 to 1920. For nearly the final year of World War I he led France, and was one of the major voices behind the Treaty of Versailles at the...
, and that year Hennion suggested the creation of mobile police brigades, which later became known as the Brigades du Tigre. Hennion was part of modernist movement within the French republic that included people like Aristide Briand
Aristide Briand
Aristide Briand was a French statesman who served eleven terms as Prime Minister of France during the French Third Republic and received the 1926 Nobel Peace Prize.- Early life :...
and the other great police reformer of the age Louis Lépine
Louis Lépine
Louis Jean-Baptiste Lépine was an eminent lawyer, politician and inventor who was Prefect of Police for Paris from 1893 to 1897 and again from 1899 to 1913. He earned the nickname of ‘’The Little Man with the Big Stick’’ for his skill in handling large Parisian crowds. He was responsible for the...
who brought new ideas into French policing introducing forensic equipment and methods of investigation.
In 1910 Hennion set up the first police training school, a vocational school for active service staff of the 'Prefecture de Police'. The next year, Hennion set up the Brigade Renseignements Généraux, which later become the Direction centrale des renseignements généraux
Direction centrale des renseignements généraux
The Direction Centrale des Renseignements Généraux , often called Renseignements Généraux , was the intelligence service of the French police, answerable to the Direction Générale de la Police Nationale , and, ultimately, the Ministry of the Interior...
, a committed intelligence service of the French Police. Hennion continually pushed to separate the policing within France from political control, and in 1911 unsuccessfully attempted to replace the de facto mayoral command with that of the chief of police.
Hennion was appointed Préfet de Police on 31 March 1913, succeeding Louis Lépine. He was in post for too short a period to be totally effective but he continued the reforms of his predecessor dividing the police force into three main departments, judicial, intelligence and policy agenda. Ill health forced his retirement from the post on 2 September 1914.
Hennion died in March 1915 and he is buried in the family tomb in Gommegnies
Gommegnies
-References:*...
, France.
Honours
For his services in the French Army, Hennion was awarded the Colonial MedalColonial Medal
The Colonial Medal was a French decoration created by the "loi de finances" of 26 July 1893 to reward "military services in the colonies, resulting from participation in military operations, in a colony or a protectorate"...
, was made a Knight of the Order of Nichan Iftikhar
Nichan Iftikhar
Nichan Iftikhar or Atiq Nishan-i-Iftikhar or Nişan-i İftihar , was an Ottoman and Tunisian honorary order founded in 1835 by Al-Mustafa ibn Mahmud...
and an Officier de la Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
. For his services as a senior policeman during visits to France by King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
he was appointed Honorary Member (Fourth Class) of the Royal Victorian Order
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
in 1906 and promoted to Honorary Commander in 1908.
Notable relatives
The first episode of the 7th series of the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television programme Who Do You Think You Are? revealed that British television presenter Davina McCall
Davina McCall
Davina McCall is an English television presenter and actress, most notable as the presenter of the UK version of Big Brother up until its move to Channel 5.- Early life :...
is Hennion's great-granddaughter. Pierre, Hennion's son and McCall's grandfather, gave McCall his father's Royal Victorian Order
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
medal, which she showed on the programme. In the programme, which first aired on 15 July 2009, Davina learned of Hennion's story from historians Jean-Marc Berliere
Jean-Marc Berliere
Jean-Marc Berlière is a French historian who specialises in the history to the French Police. He works as a Professor at the University of Burgundy. In 1991 completed a Doctoral thesis on the Police of the French Third Republic....
and Simon Kitson
Simon Kitson
Simon Kitson is a British historian.Kitson did his undergraduate studies at the University of Ulster and his post-graduate studies at the University of Sussex, under the supervision of Professor Roderick Kedward...
as well as from Françoise Hennion (the policeman's granddaughter) and from Dreyfus's great-granddaughter, Yael Ruiz.
Cultural references
In the 2006 feature film Les Brigades du TigreThe Tiger Brigades
Les Brigades du Tigre is a 2006 French crime film, based on a very successful 1970s-'80s French television series of the same name. The story involves an Untouchables-type crack "Flying Squad" formed by Georges Clemenceau to combat rampant crime in 1912 Paris...
, Hennion was played by Mathias Mlekuz.