The Dreyfus Affair and the Transformation of Jewish Identity

The Dreyfus Affair transformed French society at the end of the nineteenth century. It also transformed the nature of Jewish identity, changing how Jews saw their place in the world and their relation to other Jews. This lecture, by the author of Alfred Dreyfus: The Man at the Center of the Affair (2024), explores Jewish reactions to the Affair in different national contexts, with particular attention paid to the effect of the Affair on various Jewish political ideologies.  

About the speaker

Maurice Samuels is the Betty Jane Anlyan Professor of French at Yale University, where he chairs the French Department and directs the Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism. A recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship and the Cullman Center Fellowship at the New York Public Library, he is the author of five books, including most recently Alfred Dreyfus: The Man at the Center of the Affair, published by Yale University Press in 2024.