Dreyfus, Alfred c.1859-1935
French soldier

Born in M�lhausen, Alsace, he was the son of a rich Jewish manufacturer. He joined the army but in 1893-94 he was unjustly accused of delivering documents connected with the national defence to a foreign government. He was transported for life to Devil's Island, but the efforts of his supporters to prove his innocence provoked �mile Zola's J'accuse (1898), in which he denounced the government's militarism and anti-Semitism. In 1898 the then Chief of Military Intelligence, Major Hubert Joseph Henry (1846-98), confessed to forging the papers for the original trial with Major Marie Charles Esterhazy (1847-1923). Dreyfus was eventually found guilty but pardoned, but it was not until 1906 that the verdict was reversed by a civilian court. Dreyfus was restored to his rank of artillery captain, fought in World War I and was awarded the Legion of Honour.

Bibliography: Douglas Johnson, France and the Dreyfus Affair (1966)