Émile Zola

Émile Zola (1840–1902) was a French novelist, playwright, and journalist, best known as the leading figure in the literary school of naturalism. He wrote the 20-volume Les Rougon-Macquart cycle, which examines French society during the Second Empire, and is noted for works such as Germinal, Nana, L'Assommoir and La Bête humaine. Zola was also a prominent public intellectual who played a central role in the Dreyfus affair by defending Alfred Dreyfus in his open letter "J'accuse...!" published in 1898.