Alexandre Dumas, père (Cyclopedia of World Authors)

Alexandre Dumas, pére (dyew-mah pehr), the most famous of the French Romantic novelists, was the son of General Dumas, who had been born in San Domingo, the illegitimate, mulatto son of the marquis de la Pailleterie, and who had taken his mother’s name and come to France early in the Revolution. Here he had entered the army and had a brilliant career, rising under Napoleon to the rank of major general of cavalry. He offended Napoleon by his outspoken criticism, however, and retired to Villers-Cotterets, where he died, leaving his widow and their four-year-old son in...

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