French writer of fiction who acclaimed great European fame during his lifetime. His first success was with “Therese Raquin” in 1867, after which he started a 20 volume series of a heroic, often sordid family adventures. His work includes “Nana” and “Germinal.”
Zola began to take interest in the Dreyfus Affair in 1897, a case where a Jewish officer was accused of high treason and sentenced to Devil’s Island penal colony with skimpy evidence. In his famed letter, “J’Accuse,” Zola became a national hero with his defiance of the French officials for their prosecution of Alfred Dreyfus during his unjust scandal. During the ensuing lengthy legal proceedings for libel, he fled to England where he lived for a year.
Zola married Alexandrine Meley in 1870, but established a permanent liaison on the side with laundress Jeanne Rozerot in 1888 with whom he had two children. Though Alexandrine deeply resented the affair, she legally recognized the two kids in 1906.
Emile and Alexandrine returned from their summer vacation at Medan to their home in Paris on 9/28/1902. They lit a fire in the bedroom and retired; the doors and windows were closed as was their habit. In the night they both woke, feeling desperately ill. A blocked chimney was delivering deadly carbon monoxide from the smoldering coals. In the morning servants found them, Emile dead and Alexandrine, who later recovered, unconscious. Zola was accorded a state funeral, interred in the Pantheon.
Link to Wikipedia biography