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Cause célèbre

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A cause célèbre (of which the plural is causes célèbres) is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning and/or heated public debate. It is particularly used for famous long-running legal cases. It is a french phrase in common usage in English.

In French, cause means a legal case, and célèbre means "famous". The phrase originated with the 37-volume Nouvelles Causes Célèbres, 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, which attracted worldwide interest.

Terence Rattigan wrote a 1977 play called 'Cause Célèbre', based on the conviction of Alma Rattenbury for murder in 1935.

A list of people and cases which have been considered causes célèbres

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See also

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