Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas, pere, born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (July 24, 1802-December 5, 1870), is mainly remembered for his various high historical fiction, that have established him as one of the world's most widely read French writer.
Alexandre Dumas' life is depicted in the timeline below.
- July 24, 1802 - Born in in Villers-Cotterets, Aisne in Picardy, France.
- 1806 - Thomas-Alexandre died, leaving Marie-Louise Elisabeth Labouret to raise young Alexandre on her own.
- 1829 - His first play Henry III and His Courts and Christine both proved popular and as a result, he was financially able to work full time as a writer.
- 1830 - He took part in the revolution which deposed King Charles X and installed his previous employer, the duc d'Orleans (Duke of Orleans), on the throne as Louis-Philippe, the Citizen King.
- 1838 - To make his first serial novel, he simply adapted one of his plays. It was titled Le Capitaine Paul, and it led to him founding a production firm that produced hundreds of stories with his involvement and direction.
- 1840 - He married Ida Ferrier, an actress.
- Alexandre Dumas pere produced great adventure stories and historical chronicles that captivated the French public, who eagerly awaited the continuation of the sagas. Some of these works include:
- 1840 - Le maitre d'armes
- 1843 - Georges
- 1844 - The Nutcracker: a revision of Hoffmann's story, later adapted by Tchaikovsky as a ballet
- 1844 - Les Trois Mousquetaires (The Three Musketeers)
- 1845 - Vingt Ans Apres
- 1845 - The Regent's Daughter
- 1845 - Queen Margot
- 1845 - The Knight of the Red House
- 1845 - 1846 - The Count of Monte Cristo
- - El hombre de la máscara de hierro (The Man in the Iron Mask)
- 1846 - The Two Dianas
- 1846 - La Dame De Monsoreau
- 1847 - The Forty-Five Guardsmen
- 1849 - 1850 - The Queen's Necklace
- 1850 - The Black Tulip
- Post 1857 - The Gold Thieves: a play that was lost, and rediscovered by the Canadian Reginald Hamel researcher in the Bibliotheque nationale de France in 2004
- 1869 - Le Chevalier de Sainte-Hermine: the novel was his last major work and was lost until its rediscovery by Claude Schopp was announced in 2005.
When King Louis-Philippe was deposed in a revolt, the president elect, Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, did not think much of Dumas. To avoid his creditors, Dumas escaped to Brussels, Belgium in 1851, and from there travelled to Russia, where French was the second language and his works were extremely popular. Dumas spent the next two years in Russia before leaving in search of adventure and story material. The kingdom of Italy was established in March of 1861, with Victor Emmanuel II as its king. Alexandre Dumas will spend the next three years fighting for an unified Italy before returning to Paris in 1864.
Despite his achievements and aristocratic ties, Alexandre Dumas' mixed-blood status would follow him throughout his life. In 1843, he published Georges, a short fiction that dealt with race conflicts and the impacts of colonisation. Nonetheless, decades after his death on December 5, 1870, racist beliefs damaged his due place in French history.
Posthumous Acclaim:
Alexandre Dumas was entombed in the Villers-Cotterets graveyard until November 30, 2002. His body was disinterred on the orders of French President Jacques Chirac, and his unique casket, accented with blue velvet fabric and guarded by four men decked as the Musketeers: Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan, was carried in a solemn procession to the Pantheon of Paris, the wonderful mauseoleum in which French luminaries are entombed, in a televised ceremony.
"With you, we were D'Artagnan, Monte Cristo or Balsamo, riding along the roads of France, touring battlefields, visiting palaces and castles, with you, we dream."
--- President Jacques Chirac
You can read more about Alexandre Dumas and his awesome acheivements here in his Wikipedia Page.