Johann Anton von Pergen

Johann Anton von Pergen (1725–1814) was a Habsburg diplomat and statesman whose career spanned four monarchs. A Jesuit-educated lawyer, he served as imperial envoy at Mainz and administered the occupied western territories during the Seven Years' War. In 1766 he became a State Council vice-chancellor and Kaunitz's deputy, and in 1770 drafted an education reform proposing state control of schools and lay teachers in place of Jesuit teachers.

As a minister under Joseph II he centralized the police and built up a secret police to enforce the emperor's radical reforms; after 1792 he returned under Francis II to suppress opposition.