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Learn How to Pronounce Alfred Dreyfus | YouPronounce.it

How to Pronounce Alfred Dreyfus

Quick Answer: In French, the name Alfred Dreyfus is pronounced [al.fʁɛd dʁɛ.fys].
(Listen to the audio below for the stress and intonation)

Meaning and Context

Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935) was a French artillery officer of Jewish Alsatian heritage whose wrongful conviction for treason in 1894 ignited the Dreyfus Affair, one of the most seismic political scandals and human rights cases in modern history. Falsely accused of passing military secrets to the German embassy, Dreyfus was subjected to a secret court-martial, publicly degraded, and sentenced to life imprisonment on the infamous Devil's Island penal colony. The case exposed deep-seated anti-Semitism within the French Third Republic's military establishment and split French society into Dreyfusards (defenders, like Émile Zola with his incendiary "J'accuse...!" open letter) and anti-Dreyfusards. The protracted scandal, which lasted over a decade until his full exoneration in 1906, became a defining battle for justice, secularism, and the separation of church and state, profoundly influencing the trajectory of French politics and solidifying the ideals of the French Republic.

Common Mistakes and Alternative Spellings

The primary spelling, "Alfred Dreyfus," is standard in English and French. Common misspellings and variants often arise from phonetic errors or confusion with similar-sounding names. These include "Dreyfuss" (adding an extra 's'), "Dreyfus" (incorrectly omitting the 'e'), and "Alfred Dreyfous." The surname is occasionally mistakenly written as "Dreyfuss" in an unconscious association with the American actor Richard Dreyfuss. In historical documents, one might encounter the full title "Captain Alfred Dreyfus" or, in the context of his degradation, "the degraded Captain Dreyfus." It is also important to distinguish the man from the event; "Dreyfus" refers to the individual, while "the Dreyfus Affair" (French: l'Affaire Dreyfus) denotes the broader scandal.

Example Sentences

The publication of Émile Zola's "J'accuse.

!" in 1898 transformed Alfred Dreyfus's personal ordeal into a national crusade for truth and justice.

Historians often cite the Dreyfus Affair as the moment modern intellectual engagement in politics was born, with figures like Georges Clemenceau fighting tirelessly for Alfred Dreyfus's freedom.

Despite the overwhelming evidence of forgery and misconduct by high-ranking officers, Alfred Dreyfus endured a second conviction in 1899 before finally being fully vindicated.

The legacy of Alfred Dreyfus is inextricably linked to the triumph of republican values over institutional prejudice and military corruption.

To study the Alfred Dreyfus case is to understand the fractious soul of fin-de-siècle France, torn between clerical monarchism and secular democracy.

Related Pronunciations


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