Emile Zola, French novelist, with his family, 1899. Artist: Unknown

Emile Zola, French novelist, with his family, 1899. An influential writer, Zola (1840-1902) was also an important figure in the liberalisation of French society at the end of the 19th century. He staunchly defended Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish French Army officer wrongly accused of treason, a case that polarised French politics and society. In 1898 Zola wrote a famous letter titled J'accuse that was published on the front page of the newspaper L'Aurore. Tried and convicted of criminal libel, he was sentenced to a year's imprisonment and removed from the Legion d'Honneur, but escaped to exile in London, where he remained until July 1899. He died three years later from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a blocked chimney, and suspicion abounded that he had been murdered by his political enemies. A photograph from Album de Photographies dans L'Intimite de Personnages Illustres, 1850-1900, 2nd album, Editions MD, Paris.

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