Alexandre Dumas

Dumas married the actress Ida Ferrier in 1840.

This famous writer was well-known for his romantic liaisons with several other women which resulted in the birth of at least four illegitimate children.

His son Alexandre Dumas, fils, was also a famous writer.

Alexandre Dumas was the son of Marie-Louise and Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, a French Army General who served in the French Revolutionary Wars. He had one sister.

His father died of cancer when Alexandre was only four years old, and his mother could not afford to send him to an elite school for education. However, the boy was a voracious reader who read whatever books were available to him.

He had a great sense of imagination which was further fuelled by the stories his mother told of his father’s bravery during the French Wars.

He was appointed at the Palais Royal in the office of Loius-Philippe in 1822 owing to his late father’s distinguished reputation. During this time he also began writing articles and plays.

His first play ‘Henry III and His Courts’ was produced in 1829. The play was a success and so was his next play ‘Christine’, produced the following year.

The commercial success of his plays motivated him to explore other writing genres. During the 1830s, newspaper serials were gaining in popularity and he rewrote one of his plays as a serial novel - ‘Captain Pamphile’ in 1838.

He collaborated with some of his friends in 1839 to compile ‘Celebrated Crimes’, a collection of essays on famous crimes and criminals from European history which was published in eight volumes. The final of these volumes was out in 1841.

In 1840, he published the novel ‘The Fencing Master’ with the help of his fencing master Augustin Grisier. The novel was banned in Russia due to its reference to the Decembrist revolt in Russia.

His most famous work is ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’, an adventure novel that unfolds in the 19th century and covers the historical events that happened in France, Italy and Mediterranean Islands. The book is considered a literary classic.

‘The Three Musketeers’ is another one of his very popular works which revolves around the adventures of a young man named d’Artagnan and his three friends. The story has been adapted into several plays, films, television series, and videogames.