Dumas, Alexandre

(1802-1870) (Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie)

   novelist, playwright

   Born in Villers-Cotterets, Aisne, the son of a general born in Jérémie, Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), and grandson of the marquis Davy de la Pailleterie, Alexandre Dumas, or Dumas père, as he is also known, had little formal education but, while working as a clerk in Paris, achieved notoriety with his play Henri III et sa cour (1825), which was produced by the comédie-française along with a later work, Christine (1830). Both were resounding successes. Dumas became a prolific writer, with about 1,200 volumes eventually published under his name. Many, however, were the products of collaboration or the work of hired writers, but all bear the mark of his personal inventiveness and genius. Dumas is best remembered for his historical novels, Les Trois Mousquetaires (The Three Musketeers; 1844) and Le Comte de Monte-Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo; 1844). More of a writer than a historian, however, Dumas described history as "merely a peg to which he could hook his works on." Dumas spent much of his enormous earnings from his writings on an extravagant lifestyle (one of his numerous mistresses was the mother of his son alexandre dumas fils). He died nearly bankrupt. Besides his historical novels, Dumas's works include the plays Antony (1831), La Tour de Nesle (1832), Catherine Howard (1834), and L'Alchimiste (1839). His own life as well as a vivid account of his times are found in his Mémoires (1852-54) and Impressions de Voyage (1835-58).