About the Author
Alexandre Dumas was born on July 24, 1802 in Villers-Cotterêts 40 km NE of Paris. His birth certificate names him Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie.
His grandfather was the Marquis Antoine-Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie and his grandmother was Marie-Céssette Dumas, a black slave from Jérémie, Saint-Domingue (now part of Haiti).
Alexandre grew up in Villers-Cotterêts, and traveled to Paris when he was twenty. By twenty-five, he had his first success as a playwright. Dumas has written many interesting anecdotes about these years in Mes Mémoires. Many people do not realize that Dumas became famous not for his novels, but for his plays. Dumas is best known for the historical novels The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo
After many years of writing, traveling, and carousing, after he had made and lost several fortunes, Dumas died in Puys, near Dieppe, on December 5, 1870.
