Alexandre Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers, was born on this date in 1802. 10 facts about him:
His father, Thomas-Alexandre, was the illegitimate son of Marquis Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie and one of his slaves, Marie Cessete Dumas. When Thomas decided to join the French army, his father disapproved of him using the name Davy de la Pailleterie, so he took his mother’s name, Dumas. At 31, he became one of Napoleon’s most valued generals and had acquired the nickname “Black Devil.” It was this background which made Dumas the author afraid to travel to the US for fear of being sold into slavery.
His son, the author Alexandre Dumas, came to be known as Alexandre Dumas père to distinguish him from his son, also called Alexandre Dumas and also a writer. The latter was known as Alexandre Dumas fils. He became a writer, too, and wrote La Dame aux Camélias (The Lady of the Camellias), which was adapted as the opera La Traviata by Guiseppe Verdi.
However, it’s the one in the middle we’re focussing on. He is best known for penning The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, but these are by no means all he wrote. He wrote a Christian history about the conversion of St Paul, numerous adventure and fantasy stories, including a novel about Vampires (The Pale Lady) and The Wolf Leader, one of the first novels to feature Werewolves. He wrote romances featuring Marie Antoinette and lots of articles and journals about politics and history.
He was also a playwright. In fact, he started his career writing plays. His first play, Henry III and His Court, was produced in 1829 when Dumas was 27 years old, and met with much acclaim. His second play, Christine, produced the following year, was equally popular. The income from these two plays meant he could quit his day job and write full time.
The day job in question was as a scribe for duc d’Orléans who later became King Louis Philippe.
Dumas married actress Ida Ferrier in 1840. She died in 1849. The couple had no children together. He is said, however, to have had about 40 mistresses and four illegitimate children that we know about. He acknowledged Alexandre Dumas fils at age seven and took over his education, separating him from his mother. One article I read said that Dumas actually claimed to have fathered more than 500 children.
Dumas was a member of a group called the Club des Hashischins, which also included Victor Hugo, Charles Baudelaire and Honore de Balzac. The purpose of the club? To get together and smoke weed.
Dumas was a chronic insomniac, and went to the doctor about it. The doctor prescribed an Apple, to be eaten every day at 7:00 AM under the Arch of Triumph in Paris. The reasoning behind this odd prescription was that it would help Dumas get into a daily routine.
With the profits from his books, Dumas built a home at Port Marly, Yvelines, France, which he called Château de Monte Cristo. It is now a museum.
He died in 1870, aged 68, probably from a heart attack. In 1970, on the centenary of his death, the Paris Métro named a station in his honour.
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
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