The thirteenth book in Emile Zola's Les Rougon-Macquart, a twenty-volume series, is titled Germinal. The novel, an unflinchingly severe and realistic account of a coalminers' strike in northern France in the 1860s, is frequently regarded as Zola's masterpiece and one of the most important works of French literature. It has been published and translated into more than one hundred languages. Additionally, it served as inspiration for two television shows and five film adaptations. Between April 1884 and January 1885, Germinal was written. It was first published as a serial between November 1884 and February 1885 in the magazine Gil Blas, after which it was published as a book in March 1885. The name of a spring-themed month on the French Republican Calendar is referenced in the title. The word "germin" comes from the Latin word for "seed," and in the book, it refers to the hope for a brighter future that germinates among the miners. Etienne Lantier, previously seen in L' Assommoir (1877), is the central character in Germinal. The miners' lives are played out against a backdrop of severe poverty and oppression. Some of Zola's best scenes from the novel are set in the mining community.
French author, journalist, dramatist, and founder of the naturalism literary movement, Zola also wrote plays. He played a significant role in both Alfred Dreyfus' exoneration and the political liberalisation of France. Dreyfus had been wrongfully charged and imprisoned as an army commander. In 1901 and 1902, Zola was a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Zola was born in Paris on April 2, 1840, to François Zola and Emilie Aubert. Before becoming a writer, he was a law student who twice failed the baccalaureate. In his formative years, Zola produced a large number of short stories, essays, plays, and novels. Hachette fired Zola from his position as director of the Paris Opera in 1864 after the release of his scandalous autobiographical book La Confession de Claude (1865), which attracted the attention of the authorities. Zola became a citizen of France in 1862. He met the seamstress Éléonore-Alexandrine Meley, also known as Gabrielle, in 1865, and she eventually became his mistress. On September 29, 1902, Francois Zola died from carbon monoxide poisoning brought on by a poorly ventilated chimney. At the time of his death, he was working on the sequel to his recently published book Vérité, which is about the Dreyfus trial.
