(6317) Dreyfus

1990 UP₃. Discovered 1990 Oct. 16 by E. W. Elst at La Silla.

Named for the infamous Dreyfus case, which dominated French politics, reinforced religious feelings, disrupted the old party system and divided the nation for more than 10 years. In 1894 a French Jewish army officer, Alfred Dreyfus {1859–1935}, was wrongfully convicted of high treason. The famous French writer Emile Zola {see planet  (8096)} came to his defense by writing the emotional article “J’accuse” in the journal l’Aurore. In 1906 Dreyfus was rehabilitated and decorated with the légion d’honneur. (M 25446)