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Cause célèbre

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Cause célèbre is a French phrase, literally meaning "famous case", referring to events, frequently famous legal cases, that attract public attention and controversy.

Causes célèbres typically include those believed to have been incorrectly convicted of criminal offences or done some other injustice, and where a campaign to right the perceived wrong lasts for a considerable time. The French phrase was first recorded in 1763 and may have come into common usage in English after the 1894 conviction of Alfred Dreyfus for espionage which attracted world-wide interest.

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