Francois Hercule Baptiste (17 April 1883 - 4 May 1944) was a French politician, political theorist, propagandist and national figure during the Albertine and Civil War eras, most well known as the Secretary of Information at the State Ministry during the Iron Revolution, as Emperor Albert I's chief advisor and aide during the bulk of his reign, and as the dictatorial State Minister during the French Civil War. As one of the primary architects of one of the darkest chapters in French history, he is widely regarded as one of the most hated, reviled and controversial people in world history.