Profile of the Day: Alexandre Dumas

Posted July 24, 2020 by Amanda | No Comment

On this day in 1802, French author Alexandre Dumas was born.

Image: Alexandre Dumas / Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wikimedia Commons

Dumas was born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie on July 24, 1802 in Villers-Cotterêts, Picardy, France to Marie-Louise Élisabeth Labouret and Thomas-Alexandre Dumas. His father was the son of the Marquis Alexandre Antoine Davy de La Pailleterie and Marie-Césette Dumas, a Haitian slave. He served as a French general and stands as one of the highest-ranking men of African descent to lead a European army.

A prolific writer, Dumas became known for his many historical, high-adventure novels. Originally published as serials, Dumas achieved much success for his works. Some of his most popular and well-known stories include The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. Dumas’s works have since been translated into nearly 100 languages.

Dumas died on December 5, 1870 at the age of 68 and buried at his place of birth. However, in 2002, he was re-interred at the Panthéon of Paris alongside other great French writers, Victor Hugo and Émile Zola.

Explore Alexandre Dumas’s family tree on Geni and share how you’re related to the author.