Alexandre Dumas

Born in Paris on July 27, 1824, Alexandre Dumas fils was the son of the celebrated novelist Alexandre Dumas and Marie-Catherine Labay. He first gained wide attention with La Dame aux Camélias in 1848, a novel that drew on his own relationship with the courtesan Marie Duplessis and became his most enduring work.

He later adapted the story for the stage, and it went on to inspire Verdi’s opera La traviata. Beyond that famous title, he became known for plays and novels that tackled moral and social questions directly, helping establish the kind of realistic middle-class drama often called the “problem play.”

Dumas fils was elected to the Académie française in 1874 and died at Marly-le-Roi on November 27, 1895. Though often mentioned alongside his far more famous father, he earned a lasting place in French literature through works that are emotional, sharp, and deeply concerned with the rules of society.