Achille Fould

Achille Fould (born Nov. 17, 1800, Paris—died Oct. 5, 1867, La Loubière, Fr.) was an influential French statesman during the Second Republic (1848–52) and the Second Empire (1852–70). He combined liberal economic ideas with political flexibility, tempered by a belief in the necessity of repressing radical leftist leaders.

A member of an important Parisian banking family, Fould achieved notice in May 1848 with his pamphlet “Observations on the Financial Question Addressed to the National Assembly.” He served as minister of finance three times under Pres. Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (later Emperor Napoleon III) between 1849 and 1852 and then as the Emperor’s minister of state in 1852–60 and minister of finance in 1861–67.

Fould was responsible for a number of financial innovations, including the policy of direct public loans to the government (in response to the cost of the Crimean War) and new budgetary procedures that extended legislative controls over expenditures. He directed the organization of the Paris Exposition of 1855, the reorganization of the Paris Opéra, and the completion of new wings to the Louvre. He also sponsored the end of protectionist tariff policies and the signing of a new commercial agreement with Great Britain (1860–61). His influence, prestige, and political power were so great that one informed contemporary called him the Emperor’s “most important auxiliary.”