Émile Zola

1840 – 1902 · died at about 62^[1][2]

Literature

Fun Facts About Émile Zola

• Émile Zola fled to England during his libel trial over J'Accuse, arriving at Victoria Station without even having had time to pack a few clothes.^[1]
• Zola and painter Paul Cézanne were friends from childhood, but they fell out over Zola's fictional portrayal of Cézanne in his novel The Masterpiece.^[1]
• Zola failed his baccalauréat exam twice and worked as a shipping clerk and at the publisher Hachette, which fired him when one of his novels attracted police attention.^[1]
• After L'Assommoir in 1877, Zola was better paid than Victor Hugo. Today he shares a crypt in the Panthéon with Hugo and Alexandre Dumas.^{[1][3][4][5][6]}
• Zola wrote every day for around 30 years, under the motto Nulla dies sine linea, meaning not a day without a line.^[1]
• Zola died of carbon monoxide from a badly ventilated chimney. A 1953 investigation reported a chimney sweep's claim that he blocked it on purpose, which historian Alain Pagès believes is likely true.^[1]
• Émile Zola was alive at the same time as John Quincy Adams — their lives overlapped for 8 years (1840–1848).^[1][2][7][8]
• Émile Zola shares a birthday with Hans Christian Andersen: both were born on April 2.^{[1][2][9][10]}

Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism. He was a major figure in the political liberalization of France and in the exoneration of the falsely accused and convicted army officer Alfred Dreyfus, which is encapsulated in his renowned newspaper opinion headlined J'Accuse...!  Zola was nominated for the first and second Nobel Prizes in Literature in 1901 and 1902.^[1]

Contemporaries

Susan B. Anthony

62 yr overlap

Florence Nightingale

62 yr overlap

Harriet Tubman

62 yr overlap

Jules Verne

62 yr overlap

Leo Tolstoy

62 yr overlap

Dmitri Mendeleev

62 yr overlap

Mark Twain

62 yr overlap

Andrew Carnegie

62 yr overlap

John D. Rockefeller

62 yr overlap

Claude Monet

62 yr overlap

Henrik Ibsen

62 yr overlap

Giuseppe Verdi

61 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Émile Zola

When was Émile Zola born?

Émile Zola was born on April 2, 1840, and died on September 29, 1902.

How old was Émile Zola at death?

Émile Zola was born on April 2, 1840, and died on September 29, 1902, at age 62.

What was Émile Zola known for?

Émile Zola was known for: French novelist who wrote J'Accuse. Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism. He was a major figure in the political liberalization of France and in the exoneration of the falsely accused and convicted army officer Alfred Dreyfus, which is encapsulated in his renowned newspaper opinion headlined J'Accuse...!  Zola was nominated for the first and second Nobel Prizes in Literature in 1901 and 1902.

Who was alive at the same time as Émile Zola?

Émile Zola's closest contemporary was Susan B. Anthony. Their lives overlapped for 62 years.