François Joseph Ducoux

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François Joseph Ducoux (11 September 1808 – 23 March 1873) was a French physician, left‑wing politician, and businessman. He began as a military doctor, serving from 1828 to 1838, with postings in the West Indies, Brazil, and Africa. After leaving the army, he settled in Blois and worked as a physician. He also took part in local public life, becoming commander of the National Guard, a municipal councilor, and president of the local Masonic lodge.

In the 1848 revolution, Ducoux was named Commissioner of the Provisional Government in Blois and was elected to the Constituent Assembly to represent Loir‑et‑Cher from 1848 to 1849. He often spoke in the Assembly, and he supported liberal reforms. On 19 July 1848, he was appointed Prefect of Police for Paris after the June Days uprising, helping to restore order. He resigned on 14 October 1848 when the cabinet was reshuffled and monarchists returned to power.

Ducoux was a member of the Agriculture Committee. He voted with the Left on several issues, including the banishment of the Orleans family, the right to assemble, and other reforms, and he supported the idea of a Labour Exchange (Bourse du Travail), although his bill to create a state‑run Labour Exchange in Paris was not immediately enacted. The concept would be revived later and eventually established.

After the coup of 2 December 1851, Ducoux was briefly arrested and largely stayed out of politics during the Second French Empire. He worked as the director of the Small Cab Company. In 1864 he reported to the British court about a patent related to time and distance indicators for vehicles.

During the French Third Republic, Ducoux returned to politics and served as a Representative for Haute-Vienne, then for Loir‑et‑Cher, from 8 February 1871 to 23 March 1873. He sat on the Left, opposed public prayers, and supported returning the Assembly to Paris and Thiers’s assertion that the Republic was the legal government of France. He died in Paris on 23 March 1873, aged 64.

Publications by François‑Joseph Ducoux included numerous medical, political, and social works. Among his themes were public health, republican ideas, and the Labour Exchange. He also contributed to discussions on labor and workers’ rights through his writings.