September 29, 1902: Émile Zola dies in Paris. He was 62 years old.
He may have been murdered. Given the political role he'd taken over the preceding 5 years, the correct term may be "assassinated."
Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola was born on April 2, 1840, also in Paris. From childhood, he was a friend of the painter Paul Cézanne. Zola's mother wanted him to be a lawyer, but he failed the law school entrance exam. He went into journalism, opposing the dictatorial regime of Emperor Napoleon III.
And he became a novelist. More than half of Zola's novels were part of the 20-volume Les Rougon-Macquart cycle, which details the history of a single family under the reign of Napoléon III. Set in the context of Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann's reconstruction of Paris, which gave rise to the term "Second Empire Architecture," the series traces the environmental and hereditary influences of violence, alcohol, and prostitution which became more prevalent during the second wave of the Industrial Revolution. The series examines two branches of the family: The respectable (that is, legitimate) Rougons and the disreputable (illegitimate) Macquarts, over 5 generations.
By 1877, at age 37, 7 years after the fall of Napoleon III following defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, Zola was paid more as a writer than was Victor Hugo, author of Les Misérables.
In 1894, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, an artillery officer, both Jewish and Alsatian, was accused of having recently communicated French military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris. He was convicted, and sentenced to the notorious prison on Devil's Island, in the South African colony of French Guiana.
In 1896, new evidence came to light, showing that the guilty party was, instead, Major Ferdinand Esterhazy. Not wanting to look foolish after having already "gotten their man," a military court acquitted Esterhazy in a trial that lasted only 2 days.
The Dreyfus Affair had polarized France, its alleged ideals of "Liberté, égalité, fraternité (liberty, equality, brotherhood) dragged through the mud of elitism (many of the officers involved in framing Dreyfus were monarchists, still loyal to the idea of the fallen Napoleon III and other royal pretenders) and bigotry (France, by this point, had no official religion, but was still largely Catholic).
On January 13, 1898, L'Aurore (The Dawn), a national newspaper with a liberal stance, published an open letter from Émile Zola to the President of France, Félix Faure. Having already written extensively about how French society fell apart due to the Franco-Prussian War, Zola seemed to have credibility with both sides. He had already received France's highest civilian honor, "Officer of the Legion of Honor."
So his letter in L'Aurore caught everyone's attention. How could it not? In a big, bold headline, the paper blasted: "J'Accuse! Lettre au Président de La République par Émile Zola." (I accuse! Letter to the President of the Republic from Émile Zola.)
Zola wrote, "The conviction of Alfred Dreyfus was based on false accusations of espionage and was a misrepresentation of justice." He accused Major Armand du Paty de Clam of framing Dreyfus. He pointed out that the evidence clearly showed that the incriminating document came from an infantry officer, not an artillery officer.
Zola accused many influential men in his letter, including Major Esterhazy. And he wrote, "The evidence of Drefyus's character, his affluence, the lack of motive and his continued affirmation of innocence combine to show that he is the victim of the lurid imagination of Major du Paty de Clam, the religious circles surrounding him, and the 'dirty Jew' obsession that is the scourge of our time."
As with the Marquess of Queensberry's accusation 3 years earlier, that Oscar Wilde was having a (then-illegal) gay affair with the Marquess' son, Zola's purpose was to get sued for libel, so that the truth would come out, and those he accused would be exposed and ruined. Unlike the Marquess, however, Zola's move didn't work. He was brought to trial for libel, and was convicted, sentenced to jail, and removed from the Legion of Honor.
When the Marquess first accused Wilde, and again after Wilde was convicted, Wilde's friends told him to flee to France. He refused. To avoid jail time, Zola fled to England.
In 1899, the pressure on the French government could no longer be ignored. Faure died in office that year -- from a stroke while receiving, ahem, assistance from his mistress -- and Émile Loubet became President. He ordered Dreyfus returned to France for another trial. But he was convicted again, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Loubet pardoned him, and he was released. That freed him, but it did not restore his honor.
Zola returned to France. On September 29, 1902, he died in his house in Paris, from carbon monoxide poisoning, caused by an improperly ventilated chimney. Accusations of murder were launched, but no suspect was arrested. His funeral was attended by thousands, including, having gotten permission from Zola's widow, Alexandrine.
In 1906, Dreyfus was officially exonerated, and his rank of Major and his previous decorations were restored. He served through the entirety of World War I, and retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He died in 1935. Ferdinand Esterhazy, who committed the crime of which Dreyfus was accused, fled to England in 1899, and died there in 1923.
In 1937, the film The Life of Emile Zola was released. It won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Paul Muni played Zola, and was nominated for Best Actor. He didn't win, but Joseph Schildkraut won Best Supporting Actor for playing Dreyfus.
In 1953, the newspaper Libération published the deathbed confession of Henri Buronfosse, a chimney-sweep: "Zola was asphyxiated voluntarily. I'm the one who blocked the chimney in his apartment."
*
September 29, 1902 was a Monday. There were 3 baseball games played that day:
* The Brooklyn Superbas beat their arch-rivals, the New York Giants, 5-2 at the 1891 version of the Polo Grounds. Frank Kitson outpitched Christy Mathewson. The Superbas became the Dodgers in 1911.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Boston Beaneaters, 5-4 at National League Park (later Baker Bowl) in Philadelphia. The Beaneaters went through some name changes, and finally became the Boston Braves in 1912.
* And the Boston Americans beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-5 at Oriole Park in Baltimore. After the season, the Orioles were folded by the American League, and a new franchise was established for 1903, the New York Highlanders. In 1908, the Americans became the Boston Red Sox. In 1913, the Highlanders became the New York Yankees.
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