Alexandre Dumas

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     Alexandre Dumas was born on July 24, 1802, near Soissons, France. He was the son of a Creole general of the French Revolutionary armies. His grandfather was from a noble family, and his grandmother had been a Dominican slave. Dumas's father died when he was four years old, which left the family with very little money. Dumas was not a very good [ http://www.notablebiographies.com/De-Du/Dumas-Alexandre.html ]student, but his handwriting was very beautiful, and he studied to work as a public officer who witnesses the signing of important documents and makes them official. He also began writing musical comedies, and then historical plays. Historical subjects were to be important elements of Dumas's work during his [ http://www.notablebiographies.com/De-Du/Dumas-Alexandre.html ]career.
     Dumas then found work as a secretary in Paris, France. He read and attended the theater as much as he could during his time off. He was influenced by the writings of William Shakespeare and wrote his first play in 1825. The revolution of 1830 slowed down Dumas's writing. His political activities were viewed by the new king, and his former boss. He was then forced to leave France for a period of time. A series of travel books resulted from this time period.
     When Dumas returned to Paris, he began writing a new series of historical plays. By 1851, he had written more than twenty plays. He also began writing fiction at this time, first short stories and then novels. He wrote Les Trois Mousquetaires (The Three Musketeers), Vingt Ans Après (Twenty Years After ), and Le Vicomte de Bragelonne. Le Comte de Monte-Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo) was also a popular product of this period. In 1853 Dumas began the daily paper Le Mousquetaire, which was devoted to art and literature. The paper survived until 1857, and Dumas then published the weekly paper, Monte-Cristo. This weekly paper did not last either.  In 1860 he was named keeper of museums in Naples, Italy. After remaining there for four years, he returned to Paris, where he became deep in debt and was chased by debt collectors. He also had many women friends who expected, and received expensive gifts from him. Working hard to pay his debts, Dumas tried to produce a number of works. His work was produced as lower quality novels. After that, Alexandre Dumas died in poverty on December 5, 1870.