7 curious facts about Alexandre Dumas - the most successful and prolific writer in the world

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Alexandre Dumas is considered a cult figure in world literature. Incredible creative fertility, the favor of the ladies, success, debt, adventure - these are the words that can describe the life of a writer. “This is not a man, but a force of nature,” his contemporaries admired Dumas.

1. The origin of A. Dumas

The popularity of Alexandre Dumas was incredible, despite the fact that the writer had to live in an era of racism, because he was considered a Quarteron. The paternal literary grandmother was a black slave from the island of Haiti.

Once in a literary club, someone tried to make an unsuccessful joke about the origin of the writer, to which Dumas replied: “My father was a mulatto, my grandmother was black, and my great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers were generally monkeys. My lineage begins where yours ends."

2. Screen adaptations of the writer's works

Based on the works of Dumas, an incredible number of films have been filmed around the world (only Shakespeare is ahead) - more than 200 film adaptations. If you count from 1896, then this is about two films a year.

3. The creative fertility of the writer

Alexandre Dumas was extremely prolific in the literary field. Researchers of his work note that the writer left behind 100,000 pages of all kinds of essays (more than 250 plays, adventure stories, travels, novels). He is the best-selling writer of all time.

In fact, Alexandre Dumas had several authors, in collaboration with whom he created his works. One of them was the writer Auguste Macke. Dumas worked with him on such books as "Chevalier d'Armantal" and "Three Musketeers". Emile de Girardin, editor-in-chief and owner of the La Presse newspaper, where Dumas was published, was against adding the name of a co-author to the works. He motivated this by the fact that readers wanted to see only the name of the famous writer, otherwise the popularity of the novels could decline. Auguste Macke received a substantial compensation. When friends quarreled, Macke filed a lawsuit against Dumas, demanding recognition of co-authorship, but all the claims were lost to him.

4. The last novel by A. Dumas

Despite the fact that Alexandre Dumas died in 1870, his last bestseller was released in 2005. Researcher of the work of the writer Claude Schopp (Claude schopp) discovered Dumas' unfinished novel (almost 1,000 unknown pages). The book was published under the title "Chevalier de Sainte-Hermine" (Le chevalier de Sainte-Hermine). It became the final part of a trilogy, which included the novels White and Blue (1867) and Companions of Jehu (1857).

5. Love of A. Dumas

In 1840, Alexandre Dumas married the actress Ida Ferier, which, however, did not prevent him from continuing his love affairs. Historians know the names of at least 40 women who were the writer's mistresses. From these connections, Dumas officially recognized only four children.

6. House-museum of the writer

When Alexandre Dumas had the opportunity to build his own house, he named it "Castle of Monte Cristo". Another reference to the adventure novel was the writing studio (a miniature Gothic castle built nearby), which the writer called "The Château d'If". Unfortunately, Dumas lived in his house for only about two years. He entertained the guests so lavishly that he quickly went into debt. The house had to be sold for 31 thousand francs, although the construction of the estate cost him ten times more. "Castle of Monte Cristo" passed from hand to hand, until in 1969 the next owner wanted to demolish it. Thanks to enthusiasts, the building was preserved, restored and turned into a Dumas house-museum.

7. Reburial of remains

Traditionally, prominent figures in France are buried in the Pantheon mausoleum. But the racist prejudices of Dumas' contemporaries did not allow him to rest in that place in 1870. Only in 2002, on the 200th anniversary of the writer's birth, was he reburied in the Pantheon. The remains of the writer were accompanied by guards disguised as musketeers.

Alexandre Dumas was prone to all sorts of adventures and funny antics, for which he often gets on the lists quirky writers with funny habits.