Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie entered the world on the 24th of July 1802 in Villers-Cotterêts, France. His father was Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, a general born in Saint-Domingue to a French nobleman and an enslaved woman named Marie-Cessette. The elder Dumas had been taken to France at age fourteen by his father after being sold away from his mother and sisters. He rose through the ranks to become the first soldier of Afro-Antilles origin to reach the rank of general in the French army. This mixed-race heritage defined Alexandre's early life and shaped his identity as he navigated a society that often viewed him with suspicion. The family name "Dumas" appeared only once in connection with his mother, yet it became the surname both men used for their public lives.
His first play Henry III and His Court opened in 1829 when he was twenty-seven years old. It ran for fifty performances over the next year, which was extraordinary for the time. The production starred Mademoiselle Mars at the Comédie-Française theater. These successes gave him enough income to write full-time. He switched from plays to novels in the mid-1830s. His first serial novel La Comtesse de Salisbury appeared between July and September 1836. Newspapers were publishing many serial novels during this period. Dumas began producing these stories to meet the demand of readers who wanted continuous adventures. Le Capitaine Paul followed in 1838 as another successful historical novel based on the life of John Paul Jones.
Dumas founded a production studio staffed with writers who turned out hundreds of stories under his direction. Auguste Maquet was the best known among his collaborators. From 1839 to 1841 they compiled Celebrated Crimes an eight-volume collection about famous criminals. In 1840 he wrote The Fencing Master with his fencing master Augustin Grisier. Maquet took Dumas to court later to get authorial recognition and higher payment rates. He succeeded in getting more money but not a by-line. Scholars did not fully understand Maquet's role until the late twentieth century. Dumas wrote short novels like Georges which used ideas and plots repeated in The Count of Monte Cristo. This business model enabled him to produce vast quantities of fiction while maintaining personal control over editing and additions.
His writing earned him great amounts of money yet he remained frequently insolvent. He spent lavishly on women and sumptuous living throughout his career. Scholars found that he had a total of forty mistresses. In 1846 he built Château de Monte-Cristo outside Paris as a country house for himself. An additional building served as his writing studio. Strangers and acquaintances often stayed there for lengthy visits taking advantage of his generosity. Two years later financial difficulties forced him to sell the entire property. His extravagant lifestyle meant he always spent more than he earned despite his immense earnings from popular works.
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was elected president after King Louis-Philippe was ousted in a revolt. As Bonaparte disapproved of the author Dumas fled in 1851 to Brussels Belgium. He also sought to escape his creditors during this period. About 1859 he moved to Russia where French was the second language of the elite. His writings were enormously popular there. He visited St. Petersburg Moscow Kazan Astrakhan Baku and Tbilisi over two years. In March 1861 the kingdom of Italy was proclaimed with Victor Emmanuel II as its king. Dumas traveled there and participated in the movement for Italian unification for three years. He founded and led a newspaper called Indipendente while befriending Giuseppe Garibaldi who shared liberal republican principles with him.
Dumas died on the 5th of December 1870 at the age of sixty-eight possibly from a heart attack. He was buried at his birthplace of Villers-Cotterêts in the department of Aisne. His death was overshadowed by the Franco-Prussian War. Changing literary fashions decreased his popularity in later decades. Researchers found lost works including The Gold Thieves play discovered in 2002 by Reginald Hamel. For the bicentenary of his birth in 2002 President Jacques Chirac held a ceremony re-intering his ashes at the Panthéon. Villagers initially opposed the move arguing that Dumas wanted to be buried in his hometown cemetery. The new coffin was draped in blue velvet cloth and carried on a caisson flanked by four mounted Republican Guards costumed as Musketeers. Chirac acknowledged the racism that had existed in France and stated this transfer corrected that wrong.
Up Next
Continue Browsing
Common questions
When and where was Alexandre Dumas born?
Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie entered the world on the 24th of July 1802 in Villers-Cotterêts, France. His father was Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, a general born in Saint-Domingue to a French nobleman and an enslaved woman named Marie-Cessette.
What were the major literary works written by Alexandre Dumas?
His first play Henry III and His Court opened in 1829 when he was twenty-seven years old. He switched from plays to novels in the mid-1830s with La Comtesse de Salisbury appearing between July and September 1836. Le Capitaine Paul followed in 1838 as another successful historical novel based on the life of John Paul Jones.
Who collaborated with Alexandre Dumas on his stories?
Auguste Maquet was the best known among his collaborators who worked at a production studio staffed with writers under Dumas direction. From 1839 to 1841 they compiled Celebrated Crimes an eight-volume collection about famous criminals. Maquet took Dumas to court later to get authorial recognition and higher payment rates but succeeded only in getting more money without a by-line.
Why did Alexandre Dumas die in 1870?
Dumas died on the 5th of December 1870 at the age of sixty-eight possibly from a heart attack. His death was overshadowed by the Franco-Prussian War which occurred during that same year.
Where is Alexandre Dumas buried today?
He was initially buried at his birthplace of Villers-Cotterêts in the department of Aisne. For the bicentenary of his birth in 2002 President Jacques Chirac held a ceremony re-intering his ashes at the Panthéon after villagers initially opposed the move arguing that Dumas wanted to be buried in his hometown cemetery.