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The French author, famous for writing "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "The Three Musketeers," was the grandson of an enslaved woman of African descent.
Dec 11, 2023 · Learn how the son of a former slave, Alexandre Dumas, became one of France's most popular authors despite facing racism and prejudice. Discover his family history, his military career, and his literary works that reflect his mixed heritage.
- Who Was Alexandre Dumas?
- Early Life
- Writing Career
- Personal Life
- Death and Legacy
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Alexandre Dumas established himself as one of the most popular and prolific authors in France, known for plays and historical adventure novels such as The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. He died on December 5, 1870, in Puys, France. His works have been translated into more than 100 languages and adapted for numerous films.
Alexandre Dumas was born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie on July 24, 1802, in Villers-Cotterêts, France, to Marie Louise Labouret and General Thomas-Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie. The Dumas family name was adopted from Alexandre's grandmother, an enslaved Haitian woman named Marie-Césette Dumas. His grandfather was the Marquis Alexandre Antoine Dav...
In 1822, Dumas moved to Paris and immersed himself in literature. He worked as a scribe for the duc d'Orléans (later named King Louis Philippe) during the 1830 revolution. He began writing plays, both comedies and dramas. Dumas's Romantic style — often compared to that of his contemporary and rival, Victor Hugo— proved to be exceptionally popular. ...
Dumas had a son, also named Alexandre, with Marie Laure Catherine Labay. His son followed in his literary footsteps. In 1840, Dumas married actress Ida Ferrier, but continued his affairs with other women. He had at least one daughter, Marie Alexandrine, out of wedlock, and dated much younger women in his old age.
Dumas died on December 5, 1870, at his son's home in Puys, France. He was buried in the cemetery of Villers-Cotterêts. In 2002, his body was moved to the Panthéon in Paris, where Dumas rests among such other French literary greats like his rival Victor Hugo, Émile Zola and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. "Alexandre Dumas will finally take his place beside V...
Learn about the life and works of Alexandre Dumas, a prolific and popular writer of historical adventure novels such as The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. Discover his connection to the Black heritage through his grandfather, a general in Napoleon's army.
His father, General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, was born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) to Alexandre Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie, a French nobleman, and Marie-Cessette Dumas, an African slave.
Learn how Alexandre Dumas, the son of a black general and a white mother, became one of the most influential writers in history. Discover his life, his works, his legacy and his African ancestry.
Jan 16, 2014 · Thanks to the researches of Tom Reiss, whose terrific, Pulitzer-prize-winning biography The Black Count reveals the story of General Alex Dumas, we know what had really happened.
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The Count of Monte Cristo is a popular film that was produced in 1975 and again in 2002, starring actors Jim Caviezel and Luis Guzmán. Many people, however, don't know that the film was based on a popular novel of the same title, and that it was written by a Black French writer named Alexandre Dumas. Alexandre Dumas was born in France in 1802 ...
