Alexandre Dumas is one of the well known and celebrated authors who is best known for his successful novels based on the historical adventure, fiction, and romance genres. Some of his most famous works include The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers. Author Dumas was born on 24th July 1802 in Villers-Cotterets, France as Dumas Davy de Pailleterie. He changed his last name to Dumas, which he adopted from his grandmother who used to work as a Haitian slave. Over the course of his life, he went on to establish himself as one of the most celebrated authors of France. Author Dumas is quite popular for writing down a number of historical adventure novels and plays. He died at the peak of his writing career on December 5, 1870 at the age of 68. Dumas breathed his last in Puys, France. As a child, Dumas was born to General Thomas-Alexandre Davy de Pailleterie and Marie Louise Labouret. His family adopted the last name from Dumas’s enslaved grandmother named Marie-Casette Dumas.
When author Dumas’s father was enlisted in the army of Napoleon, he took the last name Dumas and was also called with the nickname ‘Black Devil’ by his fellow army men. At the age of 31, Alexandre’s father became a general in the European army. Later, he had a disagreement with Napoleon on the issue of the Egyptian campaign and as a result, he was imprisoned for a period of 2 years. He died just after his release and due to this, Alexandre’s mother had to work very hard in order to provide for his education and upbringing. She made him attend the Abbe Gregoire School, but he left it midway and began working as an assistant to a local notary. In the year 1822, author Alexandre Dumas relocated to Paris and got indulged in literature. Initially, he began working as a scribe for King Louis Philippe at the time of the 1830 revolution. With the passage of time, Alexandre began writing plays, both as dramas and comedies. His romantic style of writing, which was often compared with the work of arch rival, Victor Hugo, became exceptionally popular all over the country.
As his popularity grew, he became a prolific writer of novels, short stories, and essays, along with travelogues and plays. Author Dumas’s writing reached great heights with the success of his novels, The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. These novels were initially published in the form of serials, but when they were published as novels, they made Alexandre a household name all over France. He eventually became a popular author all over Europe. The money that author Dumas got from publishing all his novels were used by him to purchase a piece of land and build the Chateau de Monte Cristo. It is located in Port Marly, Yvelines, France. Alexandre had intended to make this house as a sanctuary for himself. He used to spend most of his time there, writing and entertaining his friends, guests, and relatives.
However, the house did not remain for long with him as he was taken over by a huge debt and had to sell his property in order to repay the debt. His house is now converted into a museum and is visited by tourists from all over the world. In the year 1851, Alexandre moved to Belgium and then to Russia in order to remain away from his creditors. But, he did not stop publishing his novels and travel books during his exile period. As far as the personal life of the author Alexandre Dumas is concerned, he had an affair with Marie Laure Labay and was blessed with a son who was also named as Alexandre. Dumas’s son also followed his footsteps and became a writer himself. In the year 1840, author Dumas married an actress named Ida Ferrier, but did not stop at making love affairs with women. Later, he had a daughter named Marie Alexandrine. When author Dumas grew old, he indulged in affairs with younger women. When Alexandre died in the year 1870, he was cremated in Villers-Cotterets. In the year 2002, his body was shifted to the Pantheon, where he rests near other great literary personnels like Victor Hugo, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Emile Zola.
One of the successful novel series written by author Alexandre Dumas was titled ‘Celebrated Crimes’. It was published in the year 1840 and consists of a total of 18 books. The first novel of the series was published under the title ‘The Borgias’. It was released by the Borga Press in the year 1840. The plot of this novel revolves around the lives of the main characters named Cesare Borgia, Alexander VI, Lucrezia Borgia, and Giovanni Borgia. There are a lot of dreadful and scurrilous rumors related to the Borgias of Italian Renaissance, and with the help of this novel, author Dumas has tried to dish up the dirt in the ugly glory of the Borgias. Author Dumas has given a strict warning that this novel should not be read by children because he has used a lot of disturbing words that describe the violent scenes during those violent times. In some parts of the novel, it appears that the facts have been distorted, while in some others, it seems that the author has made some unwanted charges. Between the years 1839 and 1841, author Dumas has compiled this novel series with the help of his friends. He has described a number of famous criminals as well as crimes during the European history. Dumas has depicted some of the most recent criminals and events of that time, as well as the cases involving the alleged murderers Antoine Desrues, Karl Ludwig, etc., who were eventually executed.
The second novel of the Celebrated Crimes series was published in the year 1840. It was titled ‘The Cenci’ and features the main character in the form of Beatrice Cenci. He is described as the son of Francesco Cenci, who used to always land in trouble because of his immoral behavior and violent temper. The Cenci lived in the Regola district during the time of the 16th century. Their family consisted of the elder brother of Beatrice named Giacomo, their stepmother. Francesco used to behave cruelly even at his home and used to abuse his family members. He was jailed on many occasions, but was released because of his royal status. When Francesco learns that his daughter has complained against him, he sends his sons away from his home and tries to mistreat his daughter. When the members of the Cenci family become exasperated because of the behavior of Francesco, they decide to organize a plot and kill Francesco.
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