Cause célèbre: Difference between revisions
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→Examples: Added Example of Marin Guerre, A peasant who absconded from his village and had his identity in that village stolen by a newcomer until he returned towards the end of a trial of the imposter's identity theft. This case generated two written accounts and became widely circulated. |
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{{Short description|Issue or incident | {{Short description|Issue or incident that incites widespread controversy and public debate}} | ||
{{other uses}} | {{other uses}} | ||
{{italic title}} | {{italic title}} | ||
{{use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} | {{use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} | ||
{{Excessive examples|date=April 2023}} | {{Excessive examples|date=April 2023}} | ||
[[File:Tom Mooney and Angelo Herndon 1937 Edit.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|[[Tom Mooney]] and [[Angelo Herndon]] {{circa}} 1937. Both men became ''causes célèbres'' for the [[American Left]] in the first half of the [[20th century]].]] | |||
A {{lang|fr|'''cause célèbre'''}} ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|k|ɔː|z|_|s|ə|ˈ|l|ɛ|b|(|r|ə|)|audio=en-us-cause-célèbre.ogg}} {{respell|KAWZ|_|sə|LEB(|rə)}},<ref name="Collins">{{Cite web |title=cause célèbre |url=https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cause+c%c3%a9l%c3%a8bre |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=TheFreeDictionary.com |language=en}}</ref> {{IPA|fr|koz selɛbʁ|lang}}; pl. '''''causes célèbres''''', pronounced like the singular) is an issue or incident arousing widespread [[controversy]], outside [[Advocacy|campaigning]], and heated [[public debate]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |entry=cause célèbre |dictionary=The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy |edition=3rd |editor1-first=E. D. Jr. |editor1-last=Hirsch |editor2-first=Joseph F. |editor2-last=Kett |editor3-first=James |editor3-last=Trefil |date=2002 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |via=Bartleby.com |url=http://www.bartleby.com/59/4/causecelebre.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921150757/http://www.bartleby.com/59/4/causecelebre.html |archive-date=September 21, 2008 |title=Telecommunications Essay | Bartleby}}</ref> The term is sometimes used positively for celebrated legal cases for their [[precedent]] value (each ''[[locus classicus]]'' or "case-in-point") and more often negatively for infamous ones, whether for scale, outrage, [[scandal]], or [[conspiracy theories]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |entry=cause célèbre |dictionary=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language |edition=4th |date=2000 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |via=Bartleby.com |url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/31/C0173100.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080803114311/http://www.bartleby.com/61/31/C0173100.html |archive-date=August 3, 2008 |title=Homework Help and Textbook Solutions | bartleby}}</ref> The term is a [[List of French phrases|French phrase]] in common usage in English. Since it has been fully adopted into English and is included unitalicized in English dictionaries,<ref name="AmHerit">{{Cite web |title=cause célèbre |url=https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cause+c%c3%a9l%c3%a8bre |access-date=2024-03-13 |website=TheFreeDictionary.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Collins" /><ref name="RandHouse">''Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary''. S.v. "cause célèbre." Retrieved November 30, 2018 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cause+c%c3%a9l%c3%a8bre</ref> it is not normally italicized despite its French origin. | A {{lang|fr|'''cause célèbre'''}} ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|k|ɔː|z|_|s|ə|ˈ|l|ɛ|b|(|r|ə|)|audio=en-us-cause-célèbre.ogg}} {{respell|KAWZ|_|sə|LEB(|rə)}},<ref name="Collins">{{Cite web |title=cause célèbre |url=https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cause+c%c3%a9l%c3%a8bre |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=TheFreeDictionary.com |language=en}}</ref> {{IPA|fr|koz selɛbʁ|lang}}; pl. '''''causes célèbres''''', pronounced like the singular) is an issue or incident arousing widespread [[controversy]], outside [[Advocacy|campaigning]], and heated [[public debate]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |entry=cause célèbre |dictionary=The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy |edition=3rd |editor1-first=E. D. Jr. |editor1-last=Hirsch |editor2-first=Joseph F. |editor2-last=Kett |editor3-first=James |editor3-last=Trefil |date=2002 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |via=Bartleby.com |url=http://www.bartleby.com/59/4/causecelebre.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921150757/http://www.bartleby.com/59/4/causecelebre.html |archive-date=September 21, 2008 |title=Telecommunications Essay | Bartleby}}</ref> The term is sometimes used positively for celebrated legal cases for their [[precedent]] value (each ''[[locus classicus]]'' or "case-in-point") and more often negatively for infamous ones, whether for scale, outrage, [[scandal]], or [[conspiracy theories]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |entry=cause célèbre |dictionary=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language |edition=4th |date=2000 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |via=Bartleby.com |url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/31/C0173100.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080803114311/http://www.bartleby.com/61/31/C0173100.html |archive-date=August 3, 2008 |title=Homework Help and Textbook Solutions | bartleby}}</ref> The term is a [[List of French phrases|French phrase]] in common usage in English. Since it has been fully adopted into English and is included unitalicized in English dictionaries,<ref name="AmHerit">{{Cite web |title=cause célèbre |url=https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cause+c%c3%a9l%c3%a8bre |access-date=2024-03-13 |website=TheFreeDictionary.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Collins" /><ref name="RandHouse">''Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary''. S.v. "cause célèbre." Retrieved November 30, 2018 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cause+c%c3%a9l%c3%a8bre</ref> it is not normally italicized despite its French origin. | ||
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* King [[Edward IV of England]]'s marriage to [[Elizabeth Woodville#Queen consort|Elizabeth Woodville]], England, 1460s and 1470s | * King [[Edward IV of England]]'s marriage to [[Elizabeth Woodville#Queen consort|Elizabeth Woodville]], England, 1460s and 1470s | ||
* The [[Princes in the Tower]], England, 1483 | * The [[Princes in the Tower]], England, 1483 | ||
* The imposture of [[Martin Guerre]], France, 1560 | |||
* The [[murder of Lord Darnley]], Scotland, 1567 | * The [[murder of Lord Darnley]], Scotland, 1567 | ||
* The [[Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots|execution of Mary Stuart]], England, 1587 | * The [[Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots|execution of Mary Stuart]], England, 1587 | ||
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* The [[Scottsboro Boys]] case, United States, 1931 | * The [[Scottsboro Boys]] case, United States, 1931 | ||
* The [[Lindbergh kidnapping]], United States, 1932 | * The [[Lindbergh kidnapping]], United States, 1932 | ||
* The [[Mrs Freer]] case, Australia, 1936 | |||
* The [[Port Chicago disaster]], United States, 1944 | * The [[Port Chicago disaster]], United States, 1944 | ||
* The [[bombing of Dresden]], [[Germany]], | * The [[bombing of Dresden]], [[Germany]], 1945 | ||
* The [[Bhawal case]], India, 1946<ref>[http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKPC/1946/1946_32.pdf Srimati Bibhabati Devi v Kumar Ramenda Narayan Roy and others (Fort William (Bengal)) (1946) UKPC 32 (30 July 1946)]</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Bhawal_Case|title=Bhawal Case|last=Islam|first=Sirajul|encyclopedia=[[Banglapedia]]|publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Chaudhuri|first=Supriya|title=The man who would be king|url=http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/lr/2002/10/06/stories/2002100600190300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180419170742/http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/lr/2002/10/06/stories/2002100600190300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 April 2018|access-date=23 January 2017|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=6 October 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Murad|last=Fyzee|title=A Prince, Poison and Two Funerals: The Bhowal Sanyasi Case|publisher=English Edition Publishers|year=2003|isbn=81-87853-32-8}}</ref> | * The [[Bhawal case]], India, 1946<ref>[http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKPC/1946/1946_32.pdf Srimati Bibhabati Devi v Kumar Ramenda Narayan Roy and others (Fort William (Bengal)) (1946) UKPC 32 (30 July 1946)]</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Bhawal_Case|title=Bhawal Case|last=Islam|first=Sirajul|encyclopedia=[[Banglapedia]]|publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Chaudhuri|first=Supriya|title=The man who would be king|url=http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/lr/2002/10/06/stories/2002100600190300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180419170742/http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/lr/2002/10/06/stories/2002100600190300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 April 2018|access-date=23 January 2017|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=6 October 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Murad|last=Fyzee|title=A Prince, Poison and Two Funerals: The Bhowal Sanyasi Case|publisher=English Edition Publishers|year=2003|isbn=81-87853-32-8}}</ref> | ||
* The [[Derek Bentley case]], United Kingdom, 1953 | * The [[Derek Bentley case]], United Kingdom, 1953 | ||
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* The [[murder of Stephen Lawrence]], London, 1993–2015 | * The [[murder of Stephen Lawrence]], London, 1993–2015 | ||
* [[O. J. Simpson murder case]], United States, 1994–1995<ref><!--Note: Chapter and Book have the same title. -->{{cite book |first=Thomas |last=Sowell |author-link=Thomas Sowell |title=The Quest for Cosmic Justice |date=June 30, 2001 |orig-year=1999 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |oclc=898484807 |isbn=978-0-7432-1507-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5eU2KN9ChnEC&pg=PA19 |page=19 |quote=A more recent cause célèbre of the American criminal justice system was the murder trial of former football star O.J. Simpson, which provoked widespread consternation, not only because of its "not guilty" verdict in the face of massive evidence to the contrary, but also because of the sheer length of time that the trial took.}}</ref> | * [[O. J. Simpson murder case]], United States, 1994–1995<ref><!--Note: Chapter and Book have the same title. -->{{cite book |first=Thomas |last=Sowell |author-link=Thomas Sowell |title=The Quest for Cosmic Justice |date=June 30, 2001 |orig-year=1999 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |oclc=898484807 |isbn=978-0-7432-1507-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5eU2KN9ChnEC&pg=PA19 |page=19 |quote=A more recent cause célèbre of the American criminal justice system was the murder trial of former football star O.J. Simpson, which provoked widespread consternation, not only because of its "not guilty" verdict in the face of massive evidence to the contrary, but also because of the sheer length of time that the trial took.}}</ref> | ||
* The [[Terri Schiavo case]], United States, | * The [[Terri Schiavo case]], United States, 1998–2005 | ||
* [[David Camm]], United States, 2000 | * [[David Camm]], United States, 2000 | ||
* The [[Bain family murders]], New Zealand, 2004 | * The [[Bain family murders]], New Zealand, 2004 | ||
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* The [[murder of George Floyd]], United States, 2020 | * The [[murder of George Floyd]], United States, 2020 | ||
* The [[murder of Sarah Everard]], United Kingdom, 2021 | * The [[murder of Sarah Everard]], United Kingdom, 2021 | ||
* The [[Jacob Zuma contempt of court|arrest of Jacob Zuma]], South Africa, 2021 | |||
* The trial of [[Kyle Rittenhouse]] after the [[Kenosha unrest shooting]], United States, 2021<ref>{{Cite news|last=Barrett|first=Joe|date=2020-09-01|title=Kyle Rittenhouse, Charged With Killing Two in Kenosha, Sees Strong Fundraising Support|language=en|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/kyle-rittenhouse-charged-with-killing-two-in-kenosha-emerges-as-a-cause-celebre-to-some-11598998441|access-date=2022-07-10}}</ref> | * The trial of [[Kyle Rittenhouse]] after the [[Kenosha unrest shooting]], United States, 2021<ref>{{Cite news|last=Barrett|first=Joe|date=2020-09-01|title=Kyle Rittenhouse, Charged With Killing Two in Kenosha, Sees Strong Fundraising Support|language=en|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/kyle-rittenhouse-charged-with-killing-two-in-kenosha-emerges-as-a-cause-celebre-to-some-11598998441|access-date=2022-07-10}}</ref> | ||
* ''[[Depp v. Heard]]'', United States, 2022 | * ''[[Depp v. Heard]]'', United States, 2022 | ||
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* The [[killing of Brian Thompson]], United States, 2024 | * The [[killing of Brian Thompson]], United States, 2024 | ||
* The [[killing of Austin Metcalf]], United States, 2025 | * The [[killing of Austin Metcalf]], United States, 2025 | ||
* The [[assassination of Charlie Kirk]], United States, 2025 | |||
== Fictional examples == | == Fictional examples == | ||
Latest revision as of 22:30, 3 November 2025
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "other uses". Template:Italic title Template:Use dmy dates Template:Excessive examples
A Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell,[1] Script error: No such module "IPA".; pl. causes célèbres, pronounced like the singular) is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning, and heated public debate.[2] The term is sometimes used positively for celebrated legal cases for their precedent value (each locus classicus or "case-in-point") and more often negatively for infamous ones, whether for scale, outrage, scandal, or conspiracy theories.[3] The term is a French phrase in common usage in English. Since it has been fully adopted into English and is included unitalicized in English dictionaries,[4][1][5] it is not normally italicized despite its French origin.
It has been noted that the public attention given to a particular case or event can obscure the facts rather than clarify them. As John Humffreys Parry states, "The true story of many a cause célèbre is never made manifest in the evidence given or in the advocates' orations, but might be recovered from these old papers when the dust of ages has rendered them immune from scandal".[6]
Etymology
In French, one of the meanings of Script error: No such module "Lang". is a legal case, and Script error: No such module "Lang". means "famous". The phrase originated with the 37-volume Script error: No such module "Lang"., published in 1763, which was a collection of reports of well-known French court decisions from the 17th and 18th centuries.
While English speakers had used the phrase for many years, it came into much more common usage after the 1894 conviction of Alfred Dreyfus for espionage during the cementing of a period of deep cultural ties with a political tie between England and France, the Entente Cordiale. Both attracted worldwide interest and the period of closeness or rapprochement officially broadened the English language.
Examples
- The murder of Edward the Martyr, England, 978
- The Becket controversy, England, 1163–1170
- The Tour de Nesle affair, France, 1314
- King Edward IV of England's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, England, 1460s and 1470s
- The Princes in the Tower, England, 1483
- The imposture of Martin Guerre, France, 1560
- The murder of Lord Darnley, Scotland, 1567
- The execution of Mary Stuart, England, 1587
- The Gunpowder Plot, England, 1605
- The execution of Robert-François Damiens, France, 1757
- The Douglas Cause, Great Britain, 1760s
- Ireland Shakespeare forgeries, Great Britain, 1790s
- The Burr Conspiracy and ensuing show trial, United States, 1805–1807
- The Marie Lafarge case, France, 1840
- The Parkman–Webster murder case, United States, 1849–1850
- The Mortara case, Papal States, 1850s and 1860s[7]
- The Tichborne case, United Kingdom, 1860s and 1870s
- The Vera Zasulich trial, Russia, 1878[8]
- The R v Dudley and Stephens cannibalism case, United Kingdom, 1884
- The Dreyfus affair, France, 1890s and 1900s[9]
- The murder trial of Lizzie Borden, United States, 1893
- The libel trial of Oscar Wilde, United Kingdom, 1895
- The murder trial of Maria Barbella, United States, 1895[10]
- The murder trial of Adolph Luetgert, 1897
- The Brown Dog affair, United Kingdom, 1900s
- The Los Angeles Times bombing, 1910
- The Beilis case, Russian Empire, 1913[11]
- The Sacco and Vanzetti appeals, United States, 1920s
- The Ponzi Scheme, United States, 1923
- The Scopes Monkey Trial, United States, 1925
- The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, United States, 1929
- The Scottsboro Boys case, United States, 1931
- The Lindbergh kidnapping, United States, 1932
- The Mrs Freer case, Australia, 1936
- The Port Chicago disaster, United States, 1944
- The bombing of Dresden, Germany, 1945
- The Bhawal case, India, 1946[12][13][14][15]
- The Derek Bentley case, United Kingdom, 1953
- The Petrov Affair, Australia, 1954
- The shooting of William Woodward Jr. by his wife Ann Woodward, United States, 1955
- The killing of Johnny Stompanato, United States, 1958
- The assassination of John F. Kennedy, United States, 1963
- The Tate-LaBianca murders, United States, 1969
- The Soledad Brothers case, United States, 1970
- The Thorpe affair, United Kingdom, 1970s
- The Watergate scandal, United States, 1972–1974
- The disappearance of Lord Lucan, United Kingdom, 1974
- Ted Bundy's impending trial in Aspen, 1977[16]
- The Jonestown Cult Suicide, Guyana, 1978
- The trials of Claus von Bülow, United States, 1982–1985
- The Đorđe Martinović incident, Yugoslavia, 1985[17]
- The murder of the Goldmark family, United States, 1985
- The Rodney King beating, United States, 1991[18]
- The murder of Shanda Sharer, United States, 1992
- The Peter Ellis trial, New Zealand, 1993
- The murder of Stephen Lawrence, London, 1993–2015
- O. J. Simpson murder case, United States, 1994–1995[19]
- The Terri Schiavo case, United States, 1998–2005
- David Camm, United States, 2000
- The Bain family murders, New Zealand, 2004
- The Amanda Knox trials, Italy, 2009–2015[20]
- Sergei Magnitsky's death, Russia, 2009[21]
- Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation, Tunisia, 2010[22]
- The Julian Assange extradition, United Kingdom, 2011[23]
- The Pussy Riot trial, Russia, 2012[24]
- The Delhi gang rape, India, 2012[25][26]
- The Causeway Bay Books disappearances, China, 2015
- The assassination of Marielle Franco, Brazil, 2018
- The assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, Turkey, 2018
- The Sea of Japan radar targeting incident, Japan and South Korea, 2018
- The murder of George Floyd, United States, 2020
- The murder of Sarah Everard, United Kingdom, 2021
- The arrest of Jacob Zuma, South Africa, 2021
- The trial of Kyle Rittenhouse after the Kenosha unrest shooting, United States, 2021[27]
- Depp v. Heard, United States, 2022
- The murder of Moïse Mugenyi Kabagambe, Brazil, 2022
- The death of Mahsa Amini, Iran, 2022
- The murder of Brianna Ghey, United Kingdom, 2023
- The killing of Brian Thompson, United States, 2024
- The killing of Austin Metcalf, United States, 2025
- The assassination of Charlie Kirk, United States, 2025
Fictional examples
- The death of General Lamarque in Les Misérables (1832)
- The prison riot in Natural Born Killers (1994)
See also
- Trial of the century
- Lists of landmark court decisions
- List of French expressions in English
- Media circus
- Missing white woman syndrome
References
External links
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- ↑ Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary. S.v. "cause célèbre." Retrieved November 30, 2018 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cause+c%c3%a9l%c3%a8bre
- ↑ John Humffreys Parry, "Whistler v. Ruskin: An Attorney's Story of a Famous Trial", in The Living Age (January–March 1921), Vol. 308, p. 346.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- ↑ Srimati Bibhabati Devi v Kumar Ramenda Narayan Roy and others (Fort William (Bengal)) (1946) UKPC 32 (30 July 1946)
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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