Joseph Reinach (30 September 1856 – 18 April 1921) was a French author and politician.

Biography

He was born in Paris. His two brothers

Salomon Reinach Salomon Reinach (29 August 1858 – 4 November 1932) was a French archaeologist, religious historian and was a major figure in the Franco-Jewish establishment in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was vice president of the ...

and

Théodore Reinach Théodore Reinach (3 July 186028 October 1928) was a French archaeologist, mathematician, lawyer, papyrologist, philologist, epigrapher, historian, numismatist, musicologist, professor, and politician. Academic career Educated at the Lycée Co ...

would later be known in the field of

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

. After studying at

Lycée Condorcet The Lycée Condorcet () is a secondary school in Paris, France, located at 8, rue du Havre, in the city's 9th arrondissement. Founded in 1803, it is one of the four oldest high schools in Paris and also one of the most prestigious. Since its inc ...

, he was called to the bar in 1887. He attracted the attention of

Léon Gambetta Léon Gambetta (; 2 April 1838 – 31 December 1882) was a French lawyer and republican politician who proclaimed the French Third Republic in 1870 and played a prominent role in its early government. Early life and education Born in Cahors, ...

by writing articles on

Balkan The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

politics for the ''Revue bleue'', and joined the staff of the ''Republique française''. In Gambetta's ''grand ministère'', Reinach was his secretary and tried to obtain a partial revision of the constitution and list proportional representation. In the ''République française'' he waged a steady war against General Boulanger, which resulted in three

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...

s, one with Edmond Magnier and two with Paul Déroulède. Between 1889 and 1898, he sat for the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

for

Digne Digne-les-Bains (; Occitan: ''Dinha dei Banhs''), or simply and historically Digne (''Dinha'' in the classical norm or ''Digno'' in the Mistralian norm), is the prefecture of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte ...

. As a member of the army commission, reporter of the budgets of the ministries of the interior and of agriculture he brought forward bills for the better treatment of the insane, for the establishment of a colonial ministry, for the taxation of

alcoholic beverage Drinks containing alcohol (drug), alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and Distilled beverage, spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered Non-al ...

s, and for the reparation of judicial errors. He advocated complete freedom of the theatre and the press, the abolition of public

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in ...

s, and denounced political corruption of all kinds. However, Reinach is best known as the champion of

Alfred Dreyfus Alfred Dreyfus (9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French Army officer best known for his central role in the Dreyfus affair. In 1894, Dreyfus fell victim to a judicial conspiracy that eventually sparked a major political crisis in the Fre ...

. At the time of the original trial, he attempted to secure a public hearing of the case, and, in 1897, he allied himself with Auguste Scheurer-Kestner to demand its revision. He denounced in the ''Siècle'' the Henry forgery and Esterhazy's complicity. His articles in the ''Siècle'' aroused the fury of the anti-Dreyfus party, especially as Reinach was a Jew and was accused by some of taking up Dreyfus's defence on racial grounds. He lost his seat in the Chamber of Deputies and, having refused to fight

Henri Rochefort Henri is the French form of the masculine given name Henry, also in Estonian, Finnish, German and Luxembourgish. Bearers of the given name include: People French nobles * Henri I de Montmorency (1534–1614), Marshal and Constable of France * ...

, an anti-Dreyfus journalist, eventually brought an action for libel against the latter. Finally, Dreyfus was pardoned, Reinach wrote a history of the case that was completed in 1905. Henri Dutrait-Croyon's ''Joseph Reinach, historien'' (Paris: A. Savaète, 1905), a violent detailed rebuttal of Reinach's history that "became a bible for that anti-Semitic section of French public opinion convinced of the culpability of Dreyfus."Evi Gkotzaridis
Revisionism in the Twentieth Century: A Bankrupt Concept or Permanent Practice?
in ''The European Legacy,'' Vol. 13, No. 6, pp. 729–730, 2008
International Society for the Study of European Ideas
In 1906, Reinach was re-elected for Digne. In that year, he became a member of the commission of the national archives, and the following year a member of the council on prisons. Reinach was a prolific writer on political subjects. He published three volumes on

in 1884 and also edited Gambetta's speeches. Joseph and his wife Henriette-Clémentine had a son,

Adolphe Reinach Adolphe Joseph Reinach (12 January 1887 – 30 August 1914) was a French archaeologist and Egyptologist who participated in excavations in Greece and Egypt and published works on the Gauls. Working in Egypt for the Société française des fou ...

, born in 1887. Adolphe became an archaeologist and

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end ...

known mainly for his discovery of the

Coptos Decrees The Coptos Decrees are 18 complete or fragmentary ancient Egyptian royal decrees ranging from the 6th Dynasty (2345–2180 BC) to the late 8th Dynasty (c. 2170 BC). The decrees are numbered with letters of the Latin alphabet, starting with "Cop ...

. He was killed in the first month of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, in August 1914.

References

External links

Dreyfus Rehabilitated
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reinach, Joseph 1856 births 1921 deaths Writers from Paris Politicians from Paris Jewish French politicians French people of German-Jewish descent Democratic Republican Alliance politicians Members of the 5th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 6th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 9th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 10th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic French male writers People associated with the Dreyfus affair Lycée Condorcet alumni Knights of the Legion of Honour