Émile Zola was a French journalist and novelist known for his series of 20 novels collectively known as Les Rougon-Macquart (1871-93). Zola's style was called literary naturalism; his novels were attacked and even banned for their frankness and sordid detail, and caused quite a bit of controversy in their day. The same traits made him a best-selling author and a star of French literature in his day.

In 1898, he further incurred the wrath of French officials when he published the open letter "J'Accuse," in defense of Alfred Dreyfus, an Army officer who had been convicted of treason. Zola was sentenced to prison for libel, fled to England, and was granted amnesty a few months later. He died in Paris from carbon monoxide poisoning — the victim of a stopped-up chimney — a few months before Dreyfus was officially exonerated.

Zola was a major figure in the political liberalization of France and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism. He was nominated for the first and second Nobel prizes in literature in 1901 and 1902.