Émile Zola

French novelist, journalist, playwright, and poet (1840-1902) · France · Writers · Died at 62 · also United Kingdom

Émile Zola is read about 3,871 times a day, in 117 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 23 October 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 398 days, one point a day.

Something wrong?

Compare

The French novelist who turned a newspaper column into a weapon - his open letter "J'Accuse...!" became the defining act of moral courage in the Dreyfus Affair, risking everything to free a wrongly convicted officer.

Writers Writer / Author Fiction Theatre Journalism Literature Poetry Photography

A life in dates

1902Died29 September 19021898“Paris flared - Paris, which the divine sun had sown with light, and where in glory waved the great future harvest of Truth and of Justice.”In their wordsParis (1898) Last of Les Trois Villes [The Three Cities] trilogyRead the whole statement

“Dreyfus is innocent. I swear it! I stake my life on it - my honor!”In their words22 February 1898Appeal for Dreyfus delivered at his trial for libel (22 February 1898)Read the whole statement

1895Named President of the Société des gens de lettresOffice1 January 1891 to 1 January 18941891Named President of the Société des gens de lettresOffice1 January 1891 to 1 January 18941888“Everything is only a dream.”In their wordsLe Rêve [The Dream] (1888)Read the whole statement

1868“The critics greeted this book with a churlish and horrified outcry.”In their wordsPreface to the 2nd ed., 1868 (tr. L. W. Tancock, 1962)Read the whole statement

1866“I am little concerned with beauty or perfection. I don't care for the great centuries. All I care about is life, struggle, intensity. I am at ease in my generation.”In their wordsMes Haines [My Hates] (1866) as quoted in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 14th ed. (1968) p. 786Read the whole statement

1860“There are two men inside the artist, the poet and the craftsman. One is born a poet. One becomes a craftsman.”In their words16 April 1860Letter to Paul Cézanne (16 April 1860), as published in John Rewald (ed.) Paul Cézanne: Letters (1995)Read the whole statement

1840Born2 April 1840

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Emile Zola 1902

100 francs 1985 revers zola

Arrestation Gregori

CF0294 Paris 9e rue de Bruxelles n21 rwk

Collezione di ritratti di scrittori 01

Corvina hirdetés Gutenberg Kiadó jogokról, 1928

Edouard Manet MET Manet Olympia 32-91

Emile Zola dans son cabinet de travail de la rue de Bruxelles, CP1505

In their own words 10

Émile Zola

10 statements, newest first

Paris flared - Paris, which the divine sun had sown with light, and where in glory waved the great future harvest of Truth and of Justice.
1898, Paris (1898) Last of Les Trois Villes [The Three Cities] trilogy, Own words
Dreyfus is innocent. I swear it! I stake my life on it - my honor!
Feb 22, 1898, Appeal for Dreyfus delivered at his trial for libel (22 February 1898), Own words
Everything is only a dream.
1888, Le Rêve [The Dream] (1888), Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

Knight of the Legion of Honour

Officer of the Legion of Honour

Family

Parents

Émile Zola

Partners

Spouse Alexandrine Meley

Children

Is this everyone?

Only relatives with a profile here are drawn, so a family can be larger than this. A line here can also be wrong.

Correct this family

About this person

Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola was born 2 April 1840 and built his career as the leading voice of literary naturalism, a school that examined human behavior with clinical precision across novels, journalism, and plays. He brought the same method to the stage, shaping theatrical naturalism into a force. In the 1890s he turned from fiction to a national scandal: when army officer Alfred Dreyfus was falsely convicted, Zola published "J'Accuse...!" - a searing newspaper opinion that named the conspiracy and demanded justice. The act made him central to France's political liberalization and Dreyfus's eventual exoneration. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901 and again in 1902, the year he died on 29 September at sixty-two.

Country

France

In common with Émile

Ferdinand ZeccaAlso in Alcohol and Its Victims (1902)

Writers from France 5

Fame.am measures public visibility signals. It does not measure human value, talent, morality, or credibility.