Alexandre Dumas, fils
Encyclopedia
Alexandre Dumas, fils was a French author
and dramatist. He was the son of Alexandre Dumas, père, also a writer and playwright.
, France
, the illegitimate child of Marie-Laure-Catherine Labay (1794-1868), a dressmaker
, and novelist Alexandre Dumas
. During 1831 his father legally recognized him and ensured that the young Dumas received the best education possible at the Institution Goubaux and the Collège Bourbon. At that time, the law allowed the elder Dumas to take the child away from his mother. Her agony inspired Dumas fils to write about tragic female characters. In almost all of his writings, he emphasized the moral purpose of literature and in his play The Illegitimate Son (1858) he espoused the belief that if a man fathers an illegitimate child then he has an obligation to legitimize the child and marry the woman. In boarding schools, Dumas fils was constantly taunted by his classmates because of his family situation. These issues profoundly influenced his thoughts, behaviour, and writing.
Dumas' paternal great-grandparents were Marquis Alexandre-Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie, a French
nobleman and Général commissaire in the Artillery in the colony of Saint-Domingue
— now Haiti
— and Marie-Cesette Dumas, an Afro-Caribbean Creole of mixed French and African ancestry.
During 1844 Dumas moved to Saint-Germain-en-Laye
to live with his father. There, he met Marie Duplessis
, a young courtesan
who would be the inspiration for his romantic novel The Lady of the Camellias
(La Dame aux camélias), wherein Duplessis was named Marguerite Gauthier. Adapted into a play, it was titled Camile in English and became the basis for Verdi's
1853 opera, La Traviata
, Duplessis undergoing yet another name change, this time to Violetta Valery.
Although he admitted that he had done the adaptation because he needed the money, he had great success with the play. Thus began the career of Dumas fils as a dramatist, which was not only more renowned than that of his father during his lifetime but also dominated the serious French stage for most of the second half of the 19th century. After this, he virtually abandoned writing novels (though his semi-autobiographical L'Affaire Clemenceau (1867) achieved some solid success).
On 31 December 1864, in Moscow
, Dumas married Nadjeschda von Knorring (1826 – April 1895), daughter of Johan Reinhold von Knorring and widow of Alexander, Prince Naryschkine. The couple had two daughters: Marie-Alexandrine-Henriette Dumas, born 20 November 1860, who married Maurice Lippmann and was the mother of Serge Napoléon Lippmann (1886–1975) and Auguste Alexandre Lippmann (1881–1960); and Jeanine Dumas (3 May 1867–?), who married Ernest d' Hauterive (1864–1957), son of George Lecourt d' Hauterive and his wife Léontine de Leusse. After Nadjeschda's death, Dumas married Henriette Régnier de La Brière (1851–1934) in June 1895, without issue.
During 1874, he was admitted to the Académie française
and in 1894 he was awarded the Légion d'honneur
.
Alexandre Dumas fils died at Marly-le-Roi
, Yvelines
, on November 27, 1895 and was interred in the Cimetière de Montmartre in Paris
. His grave is, perhaps coincidentally, only some 100 metres away from that of Marie Duplessis.
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and dramatist. He was the son of Alexandre Dumas, père, also a writer and playwright.
Biography
Dumas was born in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the illegitimate child of Marie-Laure-Catherine Labay (1794-1868), a dressmaker
Dressmaker
A dressmaker is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Also called a mantua-maker or a modiste.-Notable dressmakers:*Cristobal Balenciaga*Charles Frederick Worth...
, and novelist Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
. During 1831 his father legally recognized him and ensured that the young Dumas received the best education possible at the Institution Goubaux and the Collège Bourbon. At that time, the law allowed the elder Dumas to take the child away from his mother. Her agony inspired Dumas fils to write about tragic female characters. In almost all of his writings, he emphasized the moral purpose of literature and in his play The Illegitimate Son (1858) he espoused the belief that if a man fathers an illegitimate child then he has an obligation to legitimize the child and marry the woman. In boarding schools, Dumas fils was constantly taunted by his classmates because of his family situation. These issues profoundly influenced his thoughts, behaviour, and writing.
Dumas' paternal great-grandparents were Marquis Alexandre-Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie, a French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
nobleman and Général commissaire in the Artillery in the colony of Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue
The labour for these plantations was provided by an estimated 790,000 African slaves . Between 1764 and 1771, the average annual importation of slaves varied between 10,000-15,000; by 1786 it was about 28,000, and from 1787 onward, the colony received more than 40,000 slaves a year...
— now Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
— and Marie-Cesette Dumas, an Afro-Caribbean Creole of mixed French and African ancestry.
During 1844 Dumas moved to Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the centre.Inhabitants are called Saint-Germanois...
to live with his father. There, he met Marie Duplessis
Marie Duplessis
Marie Duplessis was a French courtesan and mistress to a number of prominent and wealthy men. She was the inspiration for Marguerite Gautier, the main character of La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas the younger, one of Duplessis' lovers...
, a young courtesan
Courtesan
A courtesan was originally a female courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person.In feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
who would be the inspiration for his romantic novel The Lady of the Camellias
The Lady of the Camellias
The Lady of the Camellias is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils, first published in 1848, and subsequently adapted for the stage. The Lady of the Camellias premiered at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris, France on February 2, 1852. The play was an instant success, and Giuseppe Verdi immediately set...
(La Dame aux camélias), wherein Duplessis was named Marguerite Gauthier. Adapted into a play, it was titled Camile in English and became the basis for Verdi's
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
1853 opera, La Traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
, Duplessis undergoing yet another name change, this time to Violetta Valery.
Although he admitted that he had done the adaptation because he needed the money, he had great success with the play. Thus began the career of Dumas fils as a dramatist, which was not only more renowned than that of his father during his lifetime but also dominated the serious French stage for most of the second half of the 19th century. After this, he virtually abandoned writing novels (though his semi-autobiographical L'Affaire Clemenceau (1867) achieved some solid success).
On 31 December 1864, in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Dumas married Nadjeschda von Knorring (1826 – April 1895), daughter of Johan Reinhold von Knorring and widow of Alexander, Prince Naryschkine. The couple had two daughters: Marie-Alexandrine-Henriette Dumas, born 20 November 1860, who married Maurice Lippmann and was the mother of Serge Napoléon Lippmann (1886–1975) and Auguste Alexandre Lippmann (1881–1960); and Jeanine Dumas (3 May 1867–?), who married Ernest d' Hauterive (1864–1957), son of George Lecourt d' Hauterive and his wife Léontine de Leusse. After Nadjeschda's death, Dumas married Henriette Régnier de La Brière (1851–1934) in June 1895, without issue.
During 1874, he was admitted to the Académie française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
and in 1894 he was awarded the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
.
Alexandre Dumas fils died at Marly-le-Roi
Marly-le-Roi
Marly-le-Roi is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the centre....
, Yvelines
Yvelines
Yvelines is a French department in the region of Île-de-France.-History:Yvelines was created from the western part of the defunct department of Seine-et-Oise on 1 January 1968 in accordance with a law passed on 10 January 1964 and a décret d'application from 26 February 1965.It gained the...
, on November 27, 1895 and was interred in the Cimetière de Montmartre in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. His grave is, perhaps coincidentally, only some 100 metres away from that of Marie Duplessis.
Novels
- The Lady of the CamelliasThe Lady of the CamelliasThe Lady of the Camellias is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils, first published in 1848, and subsequently adapted for the stage. The Lady of the Camellias premiered at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris, France on February 2, 1852. The play was an instant success, and Giuseppe Verdi immediately set...
(Camille) (1848) - L'affaire Clemenceau (The Clemenceau Case) (1867)
Plays
- Atala (1848)
- The Lady of the CamelliasThe Lady of the CamelliasThe Lady of the Camellias is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils, first published in 1848, and subsequently adapted for the stage. The Lady of the Camellias premiered at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris, France on February 2, 1852. The play was an instant success, and Giuseppe Verdi immediately set...
(1848) - Diane de Lys (1853)
- Le Bijou de la reine (1855)
- Le Demi-monde (1855)
- La Question d'argent (1857)
- Le Fils naturel (The Illegitimate Son, 1858)
- Un Père prodigue (1859)
- Un Mariage dans un chapeau (1859) coll. Vivier
- L'Ami des femmes (1864)
- Le Supplice d'une femme (1865) coll. Emile de Girardin
- Heloise Paranquet (1866) coll. Durentin
- Les Idees de Madame Aubray (1867)
- Le Filleul de Pompignac (1869) coll. Francois
- Une Visite de noces (1871)
- La Princesse Georges (1871)
- La Femme de Claude (1873)
- Monsieur Alphonse (1873)
- L'étrangère (1876)
- Les Danicheff (1876) coll. de Corvin
- La Comtesse Romani (1876) coll. Gustave Fould
- La Princesse de Bagdad (1881)
- Denise (1885)
- Francillon (1887)
- La Route de Thebes (unfinished)