Talk:Alfred Dreyfus

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An event in this article is a January 5 selected anniversary

Regarding the "pisse-froid" thing:

Alfred Dreyfus est un homme profondément patriote et s'il n'avait pas été la victime de cette affaire il eût été certainement anti-dreyfusard!! C'est enfin un homme intransigeant, hautain, peu liant avec ses camarades officiers. Il est un "pisse-froid" comme l'on dit alors dans l'armée. [1]

Perhaps someone would like to translate this and incorporate it into the article. --Ed Poor

Well, the article you are referring to says that "pisse-froid" belongs to the military slang of the time. The designation of Dreyfus as such and the rest of the "humourous" comments seem to be only the creation of the author of the article. The fact that this derogatory comments have been made by the author of another article does not justify that we should include it in the 'pedia. That would be OK if it had been (or actually has been) written in a newspaper or report of the time. - User:Olivier

I used the above source when I first put this material together. I admit that the above is the work of the article's author but he also adds

"Officier incomplet, très intelligent et très bien doué, mais prétentieux et ne remplissant pas au point de vue du caractère, de la conscience et de la manière de servir les conditions nécessaires pour être employé à l'Etat-Major de l'armée."( extrait du rapport de stage d'Alfred Dreyfus à l'Etat-Major, Colonel Fabre, chef du 4eme bureau)

This latter is a foundation for the earlier quote, and it certainly has a bearing on understanding Dreyfus' character. In a military setting where camaraderie can play an important role, this kind of "pisse-froid" personality could get him in the mess he found himself in much faster than being Jewish. My previous translation of this as "cold fish" now doesn't seem strong enough; I'll have to think of something better for when I put it back in. Eclecticology

Good job with the new version! - User:Olivier

The library of École polytechnique states that Dreyfus is X1878, not X1877. I'll try to get things clearer. David.Monniaux 12:30, 17 May 2005 (UTC)

In his "Cahiers de la Quinzaine", (Charles Peguy (one of the first Dreyfusards along with Herr) states (I don't have the exact sentences) that as a man, Dreyfus is despitable, (arrogant and associal) but as a victim, he is bound to be one of the most noble man of the century. Dreyfus cancelled his subscription to the Cahiers in the following weeks. So I don't think the comments about Dreyfus being a "pisse-froid" are that subjective. - Narval

[edit] Is he really a distant relative of actor Richard Dreyfuss?

• According to The New York Times, Alfred Dreyfus has nothing to do with Richard Dreyfuss. Besides, Alfred is DreyfuS, Richard is DreyfuSS. Moreover, Richard Dreyfuss is from a Russian-Jewish family, but Alfred Dreyfus was from an Alsatian-Jewish family - so it is very doubtful that they are relatives. --1523 08:09, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

What you say is true, but the article merely states that he claims to descend from Alfred Dreyfus, which is true. More problematic is the link with Anouk Aimee. She was born Francoise Dreyfus and is French, so that part works. But for her to descend from Alfred her father, Henri Dreyfus (Henry Murray) would have to be a previously unknown son. Further, I can find no reference for this relationship other than the Wikipedia article. I think this "fact" should be deleted.

I supposed this is all true; I have however, simply added fact tags to the relative and ancestors section. If nothing comes up within a month, I'll just delete them. Jmlk17 07:56, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Removal of links

I removed the following because it no longer worked [2]

I removed the link to the "American Dreyfus Affair", as it is a page recounting an alleged conspiracy that has no proven basis in fact, and shows a heavy political bias. While it attempts to make comparison with the Dreyfus case, it has no new information on said case, and serves no purpose for a reader seeking additional information about Alfred Dreyfus or the case made against him.