Cast of Characters
Alfred Dreyfus, 1859-1935
Born in Alsace to a Jewish family, Alfred Dreyfus was a French artillery officer who was convicted of spying for Germany. His five-year imprisonment sparked an intense political drama that came to be known as the “Dreyfus Affair.” He was eventually pardoned and reinstated into the French army.
Emile Zola, 1840-1902
Emile Zola was a prominent French writer and intellectual who became one of Dreyfus’s foremost supporters. He wrote J’Accuse...! (I Accuse), an open letter to the French president accusing the military of covering up Dreyfus’s innocence (1898). His death in 1902 may have been caused by an assassin who blocked up his chimney and caused him to asphyxiate.
Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, 1847-1923
An officer in the French army and the actual spy, Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy was the author of the document (le bordereau) used to convict Dreyfus. During Dreyfus’s imprisonment, he was tried, acquitted, and fled France.
Marie Georges Picquart, 1854-1914
Georges Picquart was a French army officer and the first person to suspect Esterhazy of being the true spy. His efforts to prove this were squashed by his superiors but supported by the Dreyfusard movement. He was dismissed from the army and arrested for his attempts to prove Dreyfus innocent, but eventually freed. He later became Minister of War.
Lucie Dreyfus, 1870-1945
Lucie Dreyfus was the wife of Alfred Dreyfus. She published her correspondence with Alfred during his time at Devil’s Island in order to raise awareness of his plight. Her support and her letters helped Alfred retain his sanity during his five-year imprisonment, and she was a major influence on the Dreyfusard movement.
Mathieu Dreyfus, 1857-1930
Mathieu Dreyfus was the brother of Alfred Dreyfus, and one of his first and most loyal supporters.
Edouard Drumont, 1844-1917
Publisher, politician, and public anti-Semite, Edouard Drumont was the author of La France Juive (Jewish France), the founder of the popular newspaper La Libre Parole (The Free Word), and an outspoken leader of the anti-Dreyfusard movement.
Auguste Scheurer-Kestner, 1833-1899
Auguste Scheurer-Kestner was a prominent French Senator who, when Vice-President of the Senate, became convinced that Dreyfus was innocent. He lobbied for the review of Dreyfus’s case.
Georges Clemenceau, 1841-1921
Georges Clemenceau was the owner and editor of L’Aurore, a Dreyfusard newspaper that published Emile Zola’s famous article J’Accuse...! on January 13, 1898.
Joseph Reinach, 1856-1921
Joseph Reinach was an author, editor, politician, and champion of Alfred Dreyfus. His History of the Dreyfus Affair was one of the first full studies dedicated to the Affair.
Hubert Joseph Henry, 1846-1898
Major Henry was the member of the French intelligence service who initially obtained the bordereau—the document that incriminated Dreyfus. When it appeared Dreyfus might be acquitted at the first trial, Henry forged documents that reaffirmed Dreyfus’s guilt. He committed suicide when the forgery was discovered in 1898 but remained a heroic figure to anti-Dreyfusards.
Auguste Mercier, 1833 - 1921
Auguste Mercier was a French general and Minister of War at the time of the Dreyfus Affair (1893-95). He was a staunch anti-Dreyfusard. To his dying day, he remained convinced of Dreyfus’s guilt.