Statue of Alfred Dreyfus receives permanent home in Paris 120 years after his exoneration

A statue honoring French army captain Alfred Dreyfus arrived at its new permanent home in Paris today, 120 years after his sentence for treason was overturned.

The 3.5-meter (12-foot) bronze sculpture of Dreyfus, wrongly convicted of treason in 1894, in a notorious act of antisemitism, now stands outside the Cour de cassation in Paris, the court that overturned the Jewish army captain’s wrongful treason conviction on July 12, 1906.

Its unveiling on July 12 coincided with France’s national day of commemoration for Dreyfus, established by President Emmanuel Macron last year.

Created in 1985 by artist Louis Mitelberg, the statue was effectively hidden from the public for decades after proposed sites were repeatedly rejected. The new location corrects “a final injustice” to Dreyfus, said Paris Center Mayor Ariel Weil, a descendant of the Dreyfus family.

Dreyfus was convicted by a secret military court in 1894 after he was falsely accused of spying for Germany. Evidence later proved another officer was responsible, but the military concealed the discovery in an affair that divided France.

The affair famously led then-journalist Theodore Herzl to found the Zionist movement, convinced that a solution for antisemitism would never be found without an independent Jewish state.

Last year, parliament approved a bill promoting Dreyfus posthumously to the rank of brigadier general.

120 ans après l’arrêt de la Cour de cassation qui a proclamé l’innocence d’Alfred Dreyfus, la République lui a rendu aujourd’hui un #hommagenational, en présence de sa famille et des plus hautes autorités de l’État.

Comme l’a rappelé le Président de la République, le dreyfusisme… pic.twitter.com/dvTYmcIsvJ

— Bâtonnier de Paris (@batonnierparis) July 12, 2026