Jacques Necker, Swiss-French politician, Prime Minister of France (died 1804)

Jacques Necker was a Genevan banker and statesman who served as finance minister for Louis XVI. He was a reformer, but his innovations sometimes caused great discontent. Necker was a constitutional monarchist, a political economist, and a moralist, who wrote a severe critique of the new principle of equality before the law.

The head of the government of France has been called the prime minister of France since 1959, when Michel Debré became the first officeholder appointed under the Fifth Republic. During earlier periods of history, the head of government of France was known by different titles. As was common in European democracies of the 1815–1958 period, the head of government was called President of the Council of Ministers, generally shortened to President of the council. This should not be confused with the elected office of president of the French Republic, who, as head of state, appoints the prime minister as head of government.