Alfred Dreyfus (9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French artillery officer of Jewish background whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most tense political dramas in modern French and European history. It is still known today as the Dreyfus Affair.
Born in Mulhouse (Mülhausen) in Alsace, Dreyfus was the youngest of seven children born to Raphael and Jeannette Dreyfus, a prosperous, self-made, Jewish textile ...
more
Alfred Dreyfus (9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French artillery officer of Jewish background whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most tense political dramas in modern French and European history. It is still known today as the Dreyfus Affair.
Born in Mulhouse (Mülhausen) in Alsace, Dreyfus was the youngest of seven children born to Raphael and Jeannette Dreyfus, a prosperous, self-made, Jewish textile manufacturer who had started as a peddler. The family moved to Paris from Alsace after the Franco-Prussian War, after which Alsace-Lorraine was annexed by the German Empire in 1871, having long been established in the area that traditionally had been German-speaking, such that the Raphael spoke Yiddish and conducted business affairs in German. The first language of most of Alfred's elder brothers and sisters was German or one of the Alsatian language dialects. Alfred and his brother were the only children to receive a fully French education....
less