Émile Zola was a French novelist and playwright, born on April 2, 1840, in Paris. He is best known for his role in the literary movement known as Naturalism, which aimed to depict life accurately and scientifically. Zola's most famous work is the series of novels called Les Rougon-Macquart, which explores the lives of a single family over several generations, illustrating the impact of environment and heredity on human behavior. Zola was also a prominent social critic and engaged in political issues of his time. His open letter, "J'accuse," published in 1898, defended Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish army officer wrongfully convicted of treason, highlighting the issues of anti-Semitism and injustice in France. Zola's