A rare photograph of Luci Dreyfus the wife of Captain Alfred Dreyfus

A rare photograph of Luci Dreyfus the wife of Captain Alfred Dreyfus

A rare photograph of Lucie Dreyfus, wife of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, taken during the retrial that took place in Rennes, c. 1899.

The photographers chased Lucie Dreyfus during the trial, until she had to ask for police protection. See "The Dreyfus affair and its reflection in literature, art, and the media" edited by Norman Caliblatt, p. 228.

Lucie Dreyfus [1869-1945] Wife of Alfred Dreyfus. After her husband was accused of espionage for no wrongdoing, Lucie was among the heads of the struggling for his acquittal in the case that was named after him and shocked the world. She was born as Lucie Hadamard in the city of Chateau. The Hadamard family was a rich Jewish family, from Kabelnitz in Germany. In 1891 Dreyfus was married in the Synagogue de la Victoire by France's chief rabbi Zadok Cohen. After he was accused of treason and imprisoned on Devil's Island, they were forbidden to meet, and their relationship was conducted through correspondence only. According to letters that Dreyfus wrote to her during his years in prison, it is evident that the hope of returning to live with her after his innocence is proven is what gave him the strength to deal with the most difficult situations during this period. During all the years in which he was banned, Lucie waged an uncompromising struggle in favor of her husband, under extremely difficult conditions in terms of the treatment of women in general and in particular the Jewish wife of the "traitor" Dreyfus. Many historians estimate that Lucie has a significant part in the final acquittal of Dreyfus, mainly thanks to the efforts that she used through her brother-in-law Mathieu. She herself wrote several petitions to the President of France, and even testified at the trial of Emile Zola who was sued for libel following his article "I blame...!". On July 12, 1935, Alfred Dreyfus died of a heart attack. During World War II Lucie hid in a convent in Valence from the terror of the Nazis under the name Madame Dutaile. Only the Mother of the monastery knew her true identity. She managed to hide until the end of the war. After the war she returned to live in Paris for a short time. Lucie died on December 14, 1945, and was buried next to her husband in the Montparnasse cemetery.

9x6 cm. Good condition.