author
Daniel Blumenthal
1860–1930
A lawyer, mayor, and public advocate from Alsace, he wrote passionately about the fate of Alsace-Lorraine during one of Europe’s most turbulent eras. His work blends political argument, history, and a deeply personal sense of regional identity.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Thann, Alsace, on January 25, 1860, he trained as a lawyer and later became a prominent public figure in Alsace-Lorraine. He served as mayor of Colmar from 1905 to 1914 and was also elected to the Reichstag, building a career at the crossroads of French and German political life.
He is best remembered as the author of Alsace-Lorraine: A Study of the Relations of the Two Provinces to France and to Germany and a Presentation of the Just Claims of Their People. In that book, he argued for the rights and identity of the people of Alsace-Lorraine, drawing on both history and contemporary politics to explain a region long pulled between two nations.
He died in Paris in 1930. Today, his writing offers readers a vivid window into the political struggles, loyalties, and anxieties that shaped Alsace-Lorraine in the years around the First World War.