Alexandre Dumas (son)

Alexander Dumas Jr. (Paris, July 27, 1824-Marly-le-Roi, November 27, 1895) was a French writer and novelist, author of the well-known novel La Lady of the Camellias, adapted for opera in Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata, as well as in numerous stage productions and films. He followed in the footsteps of his father, a famous author of plays and classic novels such as The Three Musketeers . Dumas Jr. was admitted to the French Academy in 1874 and was awarded the prestigious Legion of Honor in 1894.

Biography

The natural son of the writer Alexandre Dumas and the seamstress Marie-Catherine Labay, he was, like his father, a world-renowned author. In 1831, his father legally recognized him and provided him with the best possible education at the Goubaux Institution and the Bourbon Academy. Laws, at that time, allowed Dumas Sr. to separate his mother's son from her and her mother's agony inspired Dumas Jr. to write about feminine and tragic characters. In almost all of his work he emphasized the moral purpose of literature and, in his novel The Natural Son (1858), he expounded the theory that he who brings an illegitimate child into the world has a moral obligation to legitimize him and marry the woman.

In addition to bearing the stigma of illegitimacy, Dumas Jr. carried black blood. His grandfather, General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, was a mulatto son of a white French nobleman and a black Haitian slave. In boarding schools, Dumas Jr. was always criticized by his classmates. All these experiences determined his thoughts, behavior and writings. In his first book of poems, Sins of Youth (1847) he denounced, in some way, the dissipated life that he led in his youth, denying it.

In 1844, Dumas moved to Saint Germain en Laye to live with his father. That same year, in Paris, he met Marie Duplessis, a young courtesan who would inspire his romantic novel The Lady of the Camellias (1848), which was adapted as a play, with such success that it encouraged Dumas to continue his career as a playwright. The work was titled in English Camille and formed the basis for Giuseppe Verdi's opera, La Traviata (1853). In his theatrical works, loaded with moral teachings, he denounces the social prejudices of the time and advocates for the rights of women and children. In 1863 he saw the Catholic Church include all of his romantic novels on the Index of Forbidden Books.

In 1864, Alexandre Dumas married Princess Nadeja Naryschkine (better known as Nadine Dumas), with whom he would have a daughter. After her death, he married Henriette Régnier. In the course of his life, Dumas wrote another twelve novels and several plays. In 1867, he published his semi-autobiographical novel 'The Clemenceau Affair', considered by many to be one of his best literary works. He was elected a member of the French Academy in 1874 despite the persistent opposition of Victor Hugo. In 1894 he was awarded the Legion of Honor. He died on November 27, 1895 on his property at Marly-le-Roi (Yvelines), and was buried in the Montmartre Cemetery in Paris.

There is also a museum in his name (and his father's) in Villers-Cotterêts.

Works