Mathieu Dreyfus (1857-1930) was an Alsatian-Jewish industrialist and the brother of Alfred Dreyfus, whom he staunchly supported through the Dreyfus affair of 1894-1906.
Biography[]
Mathieu Dreyfus was born in Mulhouse, Alsace, France in 1857, the older brother of Alfred Dreyfus. The family relocated to Paris as a result of the Franco-Prussian War, and, while Mathieu served in the French Army's 9th Hussar Regiment at Belfort, he did not follow in his brother's military footsteps and instead became a cotton manufacturer in Elsass-Lothringen. His daughter married the daugher of leftist politician Joseph Reinach, only for their child to be killed in World War I. Mathieu became one of his brother's staunchest supporters during the Dreyfus affair of 1894-1906, campaigning alongside Reinach, Georges Charpentier, and Emile Zola for Alfred's vindication. In 1899, Mathieu persuaded his brother to accept a presidential pardon, and Alfred was exonerated in 1906. Mathieu lost his Alsatian business to the German Empire as a result of World War I and was forced to move his operations to Belfort, and he regained his factory in Mulhouse in 1930. He died in 1930, five years before his brother Alfred.