Portrait of an Intellectual: Lucien Herr and the Dreyfus Affair

The role of Lucien Herr, the socialist thinker and librarian of the École Supérieure, during the Dreyfus Affair can only be assessed indirectly. Except for his open letter to Maurice Barrès, published in the Revue Blanche, he did not write about the Affair and avoided direct political action. However, his fragmentary writings, correspondence as well as accounts by his contemporaries show how he conceived of his responsibility as an intellectual and testify to his extraordinary prestige. Herr's charisma as well as his close contacts with Dreyfusards circles (revealed in his letters to Joseph Reinach, for example) explain how he succeeded in creating a center of Dreyfusard propaganda at the École Normale. (AB)