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Alexandre Dumas, father(French Alexandre Dumas, père; July 24, Villers-Cotterets - December 5, Puy) - an outstanding French writer, playwright and journalist. One of the most read French authors. His books have been translated into more than 100 languages. He worked in many genres: plays, novels, articles and travel books. His works total 100,000 pages. In 1847, Dumas founded the Théâtre Historique in Paris. Dumas is the author of two of the most famous novels in French literature, The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers (both written in 1844-1845).

Dumas spent his childhood, adolescence and youth in his hometown. There he became friends with Adolphe de Leuven, his peer, a poet and a regular at Parisian theaters. Dumas decided to become a playwright. Without money or connections, relying only on his father's old friends, he decided to move to Paris. Twenty-year-old Alexander, who had no education (his trump card was only his excellent handwriting), was given a position in the Palais Royal (Paris) in the office of the Duke of Orleans, which General Foix helped to obtain. Dumas began to complete his education. One of his acquaintances compiled a list of authors for Alexander that he should read: it included classic books, memoirs, and chronicles. Dumas visited theaters in order to study the profession of a playwright; at one of the performances he accidentally met Charles Nodier. Together with Levene, who believed that success was easier to achieve in a light genre, Dumas composed the vaudeville “Hunting and Love”, which was accepted for production by the Ambigu Theater.

Once, at one of the exhibitions of the annual Salon, Dumas drew attention to a bas-relief depicting the murder of Giovanni Monaldeschi. After reading articles about Monaldeschi and Queen Christina of Sweden in the World Biography, Dumas decided to write a drama on this topic. At first he offered collaboration to Soulier, but in the end each decided to write his own “Christine”. Dumas's play was liked by the royal commissioner at the Comédie-Française, Baron Taylor, and with his help, "Christine" was accepted on the condition that Dumas would finalize it. However, the all-powerful Mademoiselle Mars, whose strong point was the classical repertoire, objected to the production of the drama. When the young author flatly refused to make corrections to the play at her request, Mademoiselle Mars did everything to prevent “Christine” from appearing on the stage of the Comédie Française.

Dumas, who had to support his mother, as well as his illegitimate son Alexander, wrote a play on a new topic in two months - the drama “Henry III and His Court.” The actors of the Comédie-Française, after reading the play in the salon of Melanie Valdor, asked to accept it for the production out of turn.

The premiere was successful on February 10, 1829, and it was a victory for the romantics in the theater, which was still considered the mainstay of classicism.

Dumas's plays were not distinguished by artistic perfection, but he, like no one else, had the ability to hold the audience's attention from the first to the last act and to compose effective lines at the end. His name on the poster meant big box office receipts for theater directors, and for other playwrights he became a co-author capable of bringing the most unsuccessful plays to success.

Dumas took part in the struggle for a united Italy and was personally acquainted and close with Garibaldi. Dumas perceived the news of the first defeats of the French during the Franco-Prussian War as a personal grief. Soon the first blow overtook him. Half-paralyzed, he managed to reach his son’s house, where he died a few months later.

In 2002, Dumas's ashes were transferred to the Parisian Pantheon.

His works have been translated into many languages and serve as material for numerous theatrical productions and films.

Creation

The writer begins his literary activity during the Restoration, when the Bourbon monarchy triumphed, trying to win over representatives of the bourgeoisie and pursuing a policy of eradicating all the most important transformations carried out in France during the bourgeois revolution of 1794. King Louis XVIII, unable to fully restore the pre-revolutionary order, was forced to introduce a constitution. The new French parliament consisted of two chambers: in the Chamber of Peers, high-ranking officials appointed by the king sat, and the Chamber of Deputies was elected by the richest segments of the French population. The most conservative circles of the nobility at that time sought the restoration of former privileges and fought for the complete triumph of monarchical despotism. Here is the future author "The Count of Monte Cristo" quite intelligently perceived the course of public policy, giving an idea about it already in the first chapters of his work.

Was his play historical? No more and no less than the novels of Walter Scott. History is full of secrets. With Dumas everything turned out to be clear and definite. Catherine de Medici held the threads of all intrigues in her hands. Henry III frustrated the plans of the Duke of Guise. However, Dumas himself understood perfectly well that in reality all these adventures were much more complex. But what did this mean to him? He wanted only one thing - violent action. The era of Henry III, with its duels, conspiracies, orgies, and rampant political passions, reminded him of the Napoleonic era. The story in Dumas's treatment was the way the French wanted it to be: cheerful, colorful, built on contrasts, where Good was on one side, Evil on the other. The audience of 1829, filling the stalls, consisted of the very people who made the great revolution and fought in the armies of the empire. She liked it when kings and their deeds were presented in “pictures that are heroic, full of drama and therefore familiar to them.”

Following Henry III, Dumas wrote a number of famous dramas and comedies that enjoyed great fame in their time. These include: "Christina", "Anthony", "Kin, genius and dissipation", "Secrets of the Nelskaya Tower".

Alexandre Dumas expanded his range of knowledge by studying the works of famous French historians P. Barant, O. Thierry, J. Michelet. Developing national historical themes in his works, he shared in many ways the views of Augustin Thierry, who in his research sought to trace the natural sequence of events that took place in a certain era, to determine the content of works intended to become the true history of the country.

Book Dumas "Gaul and France"() testified to the author’s awareness of issues of national history. Talking about the early era of the formation of the Gallic tribe, the struggle of the Gauls with the Franks, Dumas quotes many works on French history. In the final chapter of the book, the author expressed a critical attitude towards the monarchy of Louis Philippe. He wrote that under the new king, the throne was supported by an elite of manufacturers, landowners, and financiers, and predicted that a Republic would emerge in France in the future as a form of broad popular representation. Thierry’s positive review of this work inspired the author, and he began to study many works of French historians with even greater zeal.

In the 30s, Dumas had the idea of reproducing the history of France - the 19th century in an extensive cycle of novels, which began with the novel "Isabella of Bavaria"(). The historical basis was "Chronicle of Froissart", "Chronicle of the Times of Charles VI" Juvenal Yursin, "History of the Dukes of Burgundy" Prospera de Baranta.

He also showed the history of France in two historical novels-biographies: “Louis XIV” and “Napoleon”.

Co-authors

Later, when relations with Dumas were damaged, Macke claimed that he wrote the letter under pressure. In 1858, Macke sued Dumas, demanding recognition of his co-authorship in the creation of 18 novels, but lost three cases one after another. In the last days of his life, Dumas, already seriously ill, told his son about the “secret scores” between him and Mac. Informing Maka about his father’s death, Dumas the son asked if the co-authors had a special agreement. In a letter dated September 26, 1871, he assured that there were no “mysterious accounts”:

Indeed, dear Alexander, you know better than anyone how much work, talent and devotion I have placed at your father’s disposal over the many years of our cooperation, which has consumed my fortune and my name. Know also that I have invested even more in this matter of delicacy and generosity. Know also that there have never been any financial misunderstandings between your father and me...

The contribution of Macke (and other co-authors) to the novels signed by Dumas remains a subject of debate to this day. First of all, Macke claimed to be the co-author of The Three Musketeers. Modern literary scholars reject these claims: the main argument is the fact that Macke himself could not even come close to the level of this masterpiece of historical prose. But the existence of the “factory” is beyond doubt: Dumas’s literary heritage amounts to hundreds of volumes, and it was physically impossible for even the most hardworking and efficient author to write so much alone (and even dictate), especially during the relatively short life that Dumas lived. And today, in the 21st century, Dumas still holds the lead among the most prolific writers in the world.

In 2010, the film “The Other Dumas” was released about his co-authorship with Macke and the beginning of their rivalry.

Film adaptations of works

“Dumas in the Caucasus” is a 1979 Soviet film that tells in a humorous way about the adventures of Alexandre Dumas in the Caucasus in the 1850s.
Dumas was a quadroon, of which he was proud. Once he answered an ill-wisher who tried to offend him with this:

In fact, Dumas never had a Negro grandfather; his paternal grandmother, a slave and mistress of his grandfather, the Marquise de la Payetrie, was a Black woman.

The book by Arturo Perez-Reverte “The Dumas Club, or the Shadow of Richelieu” talks about Dumas’s co-author (according to some sources, a “literary black”) Auguste Mac.

Memory

The following are named after Alexandre Dumas the Father:

Dumas Street - in the city of Lomonosov, Petrodvortsovo district of St. Petersburg, in the historical district of Martyshkino.
Street and metro station in Paris

Notes

German National Library, Berlin State Library, Bavarian State Library, etc. Record #118528068 // General regulatory control (GND) - 2012-2016.
ID BNF: Open Data Platform - 2011.
M. Br. Dumas, Alexandre // 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica- 11 - New York City: 1911. - Vol. 8. - P. 654–656. - ISBN 0-671-76747-X
Internet Speculative Fiction Database - 1995.
A Quebecois discovers an unpublished manuscript by Alexandre Dumas
Vengerova Z. A.// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
// Great Soviet encyclopedia: in 66 volumes (65 volumes and 1 additional) / ch. ed. O. Yu. Schmidt. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1926-1947.
A. Maurois. Three Dumas. - M.: Press, 1992, p. 114
After reading “Marion Delorme” by Hugo, Dumas said: “Oh, if only, in addition to my ability to write drama, I could also write poetry like that!” Quote by: A. Maurois. Three Dumas. - M.: Press, 1992, p. 130
He offered to bring gunpowder, which was missing, to Paris. Dumas went to Soissons and demanded that the commandant of the garrison, Viscount de Lignères, hand over gunpowder to the revolutionaries. Liniere subsequently claimed that a few days before Dumas's arrival, he made this decision on his own. A. Maurois. Three Dumas. - M.: Press, 1992, p. 105
Anna Kramorova. Guests of the city on the Volga (Russian). volgograd.ru (February 7, 2011). Retrieved August 27, 2012. Archived October 16, 2012.
A. Dumas. Travel impressions. In Russia. - Ladomir, 1993. - 1340 p. - ISBN 5-86218-038-9.
A. Maurois. Three Dumas. - M.: Press, 1992, p. 84-85
Mericourt himself offered Dumas cooperation, having failed, he complained to the Society of Writers, and demanded from Emile de Girardin that La Presse refuse to publish Dumas. Later, de Mirecourt himself was accused of concealing the names of his co-authors: a pamphlet by one of the “literary blacks,” Rochefort, “The Trading House of Eugene de Mirecourt and Co,” was published in 1857. See A. Maurois. Three Dumas. - M.: Press, 1992, p. 196-197
Quote by: A. Maurois. Three Dumas. - M.: Press, 1992, p. 198
Quote by: A. Maurois. Three Dumas. - M.: Press, 1992, vol. 2. p. 55-56
Preface by Leon-François Goffman “Dumas and the Blacks” to the novel “Georges” by Alexandre Dumas, Paris, Gallimard, Folio, 1974, pp. 7-23
Daniel Zimmerman. Alexandre Dumas the Great. Biography. Book 2

Links

Alexandre Dumas is the father. "Genius of Life... and Love."

Alexandre Dumas (French Alexandre Dumas, père; July 24, 1802, Villers-Cotterets - December 5, 1870, Puy) is a French writer whose adventure novels made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world. He was also a playwright and journalist. Since his son also bore the name Alexander and was also a writer, the qualification “-father” is often added to prevent confusion when mentioning him.

“This is not a man, but a force of nature,” historian Jules Michelet said about the writer. A giant who lived beyond his means, a generous nature, a subtle connoisseur of the culinary arts, an inexhaustible author, who was always accompanied by success, debts and women. This is what Alexandre Dumas is all about. Moreover, the writer’s life is a continuous novel, like those that he himself wrote, a story about a glutton giant who was in a hurry to eat everything at once; a life in which work, adventures, reflections, dreams, love for all women and at the same time none (with the exception, of course, of his mother Marie-Louise) replaced each other.

Dumas spent his childhood, adolescence and youth in his hometown. Alexander inherited from his father, the son of the poor Marquis Alexandre Antoine de La Pailletrie and a slave, a “flying woman,” as they said in Saint-Domingue (Haiti), gigantic stature, the strength of Hercules and masculine appearance. He had a dark face and curly hair. All this brought women into ecstasy and irritated their rivals. One of the regulars at the literary salon, who dared to joke about Dumas’s pedigree, received a sharp answer from him: “My father was a mulatto, my grandmother was a black woman, and my great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers were generally monkeys. My bloodline begins where yours ends." In 1806, when the writer's father, General Dumas, died, Alexander was only three and a half years old. The child grabbed the gun, telling his tearful mother that he was going to heaven to “kill the God who killed daddy.”

Dumas decided to become a playwright. Without money or connections, relying only on his father's old friends, he decided to move to Paris. Twenty-year-old Alexander, who had no education (his only trump card was his excellent handwriting), was given a position in the Palais Royal in the office of the Duke of Orleans, which General Foix helped to obtain. Dumas began to complete his education. After reading articles about Monaldeschi and the Swedish Queen Christina, Dumas decided to write the drama “Christina” on this topic. However, the all-powerful Mademoiselle Mars, the prima of the Comédie Française, objected to the production of the drama and “Christine” did not appear on the theater stage.

In Paris, Dumas's first woman was the seamstress Marie-Catherine-Laure Labe. She lived in the same house in which Dumas rented his first home in the city of his dreams. Soon Catherine gave birth to his son, also Alexander (1824-1895). Dumas rented a more spacious apartment for them and supported them, visiting occasionally. He helped Labe open a “reading room” and provided his grown-up son with advice on women. “You give me your shoes and your mistresses,” Dumas Jr. said half-jokingly. When the son married Princess Nadezhda Naryshkina, father and mother met at the mayor's office and treated each other so warmly that the son decided to marry his elderly parents. But he didn’t have time - his mother soon died.

After the birth of his son, Dumas met the poetess Melanie Valdor. The daughter of a famous publisher, she was married to a captain, but this did not stop her from falling in love with an aspiring writer. They sent each other messages in verse, vowing eternal love and fidelity. But Dumas could not keep his vows, and Melanie was terribly jealous. She decided to commit suicide, made a will and sent it to her doctor in the hope that Dumas would intercept the letter and stop her. And so it happened.

Dumas, who had to support his mother as well as his illegitimate son Alexander, wrote a play on a new theme. The drama "Henry III and His Court" was created in two months. The actors of the Comédie Française, after reading the play in Melanie Valdor's salon, asked to be accepted out of turn. The premiere was successful on February 10, 1829 and it was a victory for the romantics in the theater, which was still considered the mainstay of classicism.

Following Henry III, Dumas wrote a number of famous dramas and comedies that enjoyed great fame in their time. Dumas's plays were not distinguished by artistic perfection, but he, like no one else, had the ability to hold the audience's attention from the first to the last act and to compose effective lines at the end. Dumas wrote the play “Anthony” based on his own novel and invited Melanie to the premiere. However, he left the theater accompanied by another actress, Marie Dorval, who played Melanie on stage. He met her after the premiere of his drama “Christina, or Stockholm, Fontainebleau and Rome.” Right on the square, a stroller rolled up to him, and a woman shouted from there: “So you are Monsieur Dumas? Sit down with me and kiss me... Oh, how talented you are and how good you are at portraying female characters!”

The play “The Tower of Nels”, which premiered on May 22, 1832, at the Port-Saint-Martin theater, was a wild success. By this time, seven plays by Dumas had already been staged. And Alexander became bored. The writer often compared theater and women: ardent passion at the beginning and indifference later when they gave up. Therefore, Dumas soon left the theater to write novels and short stories, and then historical novels. His outstanding literary works appeared one after another: “The Three Musketeers”, “The Count of Monte Cristo”, “Queen Margot”, “Twenty Years Later”, “Cavalier de la Maison Rouge”, “Countess de Monsoreau”, “Joseph Balsamo” and "Forty-five."

Alexandre Dumas in 1842. Eugene Giraud.

The writer devoted a lot of time to his friends, women and entertainment. According to contemporaries, Dumas had many illegitimate children, but he recognized only Alexander, and even then after 7 years, and Marie’s daughter, Alexandrina (1831-?) from actress Belle Krelsamer (besides them, Dumas has no more official children).

Dumas traveled a lot, hunted roe deer, and conducted spiritualism sessions. Like any progressive person, he took a direct part in all political events. So, in July 1830, Dumas, together with the rebels, erected barricades on the streets of Paris. According to his political convictions, Alexander was a republican, however, this did not prevent him from being friends with aristocrats and admiring the Empire, and sympathizing with representatives of the younger (Orleans) branch of the Bourbon dynasty. Spent two years in Russia (1858-1859), visited St. Petersburg, the sights of Karelia, Valaam Island, Moscow, Tsaritsyn, Transcaucasia. Dumas wrote a book about his trip to Russia, “Travel Impressions. In Russia."

Dumas's only wife was also an actress - Ida Ferrier (Margarita Josephine Ferrand). She was “a very plump twenty-year-old blonde with crooked teeth, terrible diction and a very mediocre talent.” There are two versions of why he suddenly decided to get married. According to one of them, Dumas lived with Ida for seven years and in 1839 he risked introducing her to the Duke of Orleans. He hinted: “I assume you introduced me to your wife?” Dumas understood the hint and took his mistress to the mayor's office. According to another version, Ida bought up all of Dumas’s debts and set an ultimatum - either a wedding or prison. Dumas chose the first.

The marriage contract was signed on February 1, 1840; The groom's witnesses were the great Chateaubriand himself and Valmain, a member of the French Academy. This strange marriage amazed all of Paris, which knew that Dumas had a son and daughter from different women, and in addition - countless mistresses. Traveling around Italy, he begins a passionate affair with singer Caroline Unger, which lasts several months. However, his wife was not faithful to him for long. Having received Dumas as her husband, she went into all sorts of troubles.

One day Dumas found her with her lover, Roger de Beauvoir. A thunderstorm was raging outside the window, and Dumas generously invited him to spend the night in a chair by the fireplace. The naked lover was shaking from cold and shame in the chair. And Dumas sat next to him at the table and wrote another novel. Then he blew out the candle, went to bed with his wife and threw a blanket to his unfortunate lover. And in the morning he took him by the hand, lowered it to his wife’s intimate place and solemnly proclaimed: “Roger, let us reconcile, like the ancient Romans, in a public place.” This incident was told like a joke all over Paris. In 1841, she met a noble Sicilian nobleman, Prince Villafranca, and became his mistress. In October 1844, Alexandre Dumas and Ida Ferrier separated. Ida Ferrier died at the age of forty-eight in Genoa, taking with her to the grave, in the words of the prince, “half of his soul.” But Alexandre Dumas forever erased her from his heart.

George Sand called Alexandre Dumas “a genius of life.” To this wonderful description one could well add the words “... and love.” According to biographers, the creator of The Three Musketeers had more than 500 mistresses. Dumas himself repeatedly said: “They talk about my “African passions”. I take many mistresses out of love for humanity; if I had one mistress, she would die within a week.” But it was also characteristic of him that he did not demand constancy from his women.

The age of Dumas's mistresses is constantly decreasing in the opposite proportion to Dumas's age. His new passions, young Aimé Doz, Henriette Laurens and others, are not yet twenty years old! It seems that Dumas always preferred twenty-year-olds - both at seventeen and at seventy. Dumas constantly composed epigrams and obscene poems in honor of his mistresses. The ladies were often offended, then he said this: “Everything that came from the pen of Father Dumas will someday be very expensive.” Rumor had it that when Dumas the father visited the grown-up Dumas the son, and such visits were not uncommon, there was a commotion in the house, the father rushed about the rooms in despair, trying to hide numerous half-dressed women in the closets and servants' rooms.

Unforgettable for Dumas was his meeting with the Italian actress Fanny Gordosa. Fanny's first husband was so tired of her sexual appetite that he forced her to wear a wet, cold towel tied around her waist in order to somehow cool the heat of love. Dumas was not afraid of the passionate actress, and she no longer had to tie a towel. Dumas, however, soon kicked Fanny out of the house: she, having contacted the music teacher, was nevertheless jealous of his other women. In 1851 his second son, Henri Bauer, was born. His mother, Anna Bauer, was a married woman, and Henri bore the surname of his mother’s husband all his life, but they say that one look at him was enough to understand who his real father was.

In 1860, Dumas set sail accompanied by the young actress Emilia Cordier, whom he called “my admiral.” During the day, she dressed up and pretended to be a boy. However, everyone knew about this masquerade. Soon the “boy” turned out to be pregnant. The “admiral” gave birth to a daughter, Mikaela-Clelia-Josepha-Elizabeth, in due course, whom Dumas loved dearly. Much to her chagrin, Emilia did not allow Dumas to officially announce her paternity. Emilia wanted marriage, Dumas did not.

Alexandre Dumas - father with his daughter Marie - Alexandrina.

Then Dumas had fun with the famous dancer Lola Montes, whose performances shocked women and delighted men. Lola added Dumas to her long line of famous lovers after spending only two nights with him. She did this, however, with extraordinary grace. Towards the end of his life, Dumas became involved with the American Ada Mencken, a dashing circus rider. In a surviving letter from Dumas to Ada, the author of “The Count of Monte Cristo” wrote: “If it is true that I have talent, then it is true that I have love, and they belong to you.” For fun, he even agreed to pose with her in a very frivolous pose. Postcard photographs brought profit to sellers and a lot of grief to Dumas’s children.

Dumas is the father of Ada Mencken.

In 1870, Alexandre Dumas again, for the twentieth time in his life, went bankrupt. “They reproach me for being wasteful,” Dumas told his son before his death. - I arrived in Paris with twenty francs in my pocket. - And, pointing with his gaze at his last gold one on the fireplace, he finished: “And so, I saved them... Look!” A few days later, on December 6, he was gone. In his will, Dumas wrote: “I wish to be buried in the lovely cemetery of the town of Villers-Cotterets, more like a lawn on which children could play.” Alexandre Dumas was buried in Neuville de Pollet, and when the war ended, the son transported his father's remains to Villers-Cotterets and buried them next to the grave of General Dumas and Marie-Louise Labouret. Melanie Valdor, after the death of Alexandre Dumas, wrote to his son: “If there was a man who was invariably kind and generous, then it is, of course, your father.”

The writer's remains were exhumed on November 26, 2002. The coffin with the remains of Alexandre Dumas was taken to the Pantheon in front of a large crowd of people, accompanied by four royal musketeers. French President Jacques Chirac, who took part in the celebration, called Dumas “the greatest representative of world literature” and “the pride of the nation.”

The famous writer, classic of world literature, creator of the legendary “The Three Musketeers” Alexandre Dumas was born on July 24, 1802 in the town of Villers-Contre. His father Tom was a retired general, and his mother Maria was once raised in the family of a tavern owner.

Biography

The boy's childhood years were spent in complete poverty. He mastered reading and writing quite early thanks to the efforts of his sister and mother. After the death of the father, the family completely lost their livelihood. Maria unsuccessfully tried to enroll her son in a military school. As a result, Alexander began to study at Abbot Gregoire's College, where he mastered Latin, studied grammar and developed a beautiful handwriting, which was later very useful to him. Dumas's first place of work was a notary's office, where he worked as a clerk. All this time, the young man was drawn to the capital of France. His dreams came true after Alexandra was hired by the Duke of Orleans to work in his office. At the same time, Alexandre Dumas met Parisian writers and began to write his first works of art. In 1829, his play “Henry III and His Court” was published, after the production of which the writer gained fame. Subsequently, he wrote such dramatic works as “The Tower of Nels” and “Antonies” for theaters in Paris.

All photos 10

In the 30s, the idea was born in the head of Alexandre Dumas to write several novels on historical themes, in which events unfold over the past five centuries. As a result, the writer published a whole series of works, which began with the novel “Isabella of Bavaria.” In his books, real participants in historical events intersected with fictional characters. After the publication of the book “Chevalier d’Harmental”, the writer realized that he had found his own style, which from now on would become his calling card. Parisian publishers lined up to be the first to publish his new work. After the release of the novel “The Three Musketeers,” Alexandre Dumas became a classic during his lifetime. According to researchers of French literature, Alexandre Dumas is recognized as the most prolific author. His works were sometimes compared to hot cakes, which were fresh and tasty. Thanks to the writer, his fellow countrymen were able to better learn the history of their native country in a fascinating way. The author also included the novels “The Vicomte de Bragelonne” and “Twenty Years Later” in the series about the musketeers. In addition, from his pen came the classic of romantic literature, Queen Margot. In the book Ange Pitou, the writer told readers about the period of the reign of the last kings of France.

Alexandre Dumas traveled a lot and dreamed of going to Russia. In 1840, his novel “The Fencing Teacher” was published, the main character of which was the Decembrist Annenkov. After the publication of this work in France, it was forbidden to publish it on the territory of the Russian Empire. In fact, this book was secretly printed, and even the empress got acquainted with it. When Nicholas I died, Dumas was allowed to enter the empire, and he made a long-awaited trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg, and also visited a fair in Nizhny Novgorod, where he had an unexpected meeting with the real characters of “The Fencing Teacher,” the Annenkovs. It turned out that readers in Russia are very familiar with French literature and adore his novels. While traveling around the empire, the famous writer also visited Kalmykia and Astrakhan. Alexandre Dumas' travel notes about his Russian impressions were as successful in the writer's homeland as his most famous novels.

Personal life

In 1840, Dumas started a family with actress Ida Ferrier, although he had many mistresses until the end of his days. This marriage lasted only four years and ended in separation, but an official divorce never occurred. The writer was a big spender, and his money never stagnated. In the second half of the 40s, he completed the construction of his own castle near Port Marly, which he named Monte Cristo. At one time, Alexandre Dumas was engaged in publishing and even opened his own theater, but both businesses failed. In 1851, due to large debts, he had to leave for Belgium. There he began work on writing his memoirs, which were created in his signature engaging style. When the war between France and Prussia began, the classic of world literature suffered a heart attack and was half paralyzed. Dumas moved to his son, where he soon became speechless, and over time he was unable to get out of bed. On December 5, 1870, the famous writer died. His body was interred in Neuville de Pollet. After the war, the son of a classic of world literature reburied the remains of Alexandre Dumas in Villers-Cotterets next to his parents.

Dumas was born on July 24, 1802 in the small French town of Villiers-Cotterets in the family of a general. Thanks to his parents’ connections, Dumas was given a small position in the office of the Parisian Palais Royale. While serving the Duke of Orleans, after the outbreak of the July Revolution of 1830, Dumas was active in public life. Under threat of arrest, Alexandre Dumas fled from France to Switzerland. Dumas did not stop studying literature, and in Switzerland he was preparing his work “Gaul and France” for publication. The book, published in 1833, reflected the author's interest in national history. Dumas studied the works of French historians and was well aware of the past of his country.

The most famous books in the biography of Alexandre Dumas are three books about the musketeers: “The Three Musketeers” (1844), “Twenty Years After” (1845), “The Vicomte de Bragelonne, or Ten Years After” (1847). Also among the most famous works of Dumas: “The Count of Monte Cristo”, “Two Dianas”, “Black Tulip” and many others. In addition to adventure novels, Dumas created several comedies and dramas. For example, “Secrets of the Nel Tower”, “Christiana”. During his biography, Dumas tried to found a theater and publish magazines, but all attempts ended in failure.

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Together with Levene, who believed that success was easier to achieve in a light genre, Dumas composed the vaudeville “Hunting and Love”, which was accepted for production by the Ambigu Theater.

Dumas, who had to support his mother, as well as his illegitimate son Alexander, wrote a play on a new theme. The drama “Henry III and His Court” was created in two months. The actors of the Comédie Française, after reading the play, which took place in Melanie Valdor's salon, asked to be accepted out of turn. The premiere was successful on February 10, 1829, and it was a victory for the romantics in the theater, which was still considered the mainstay of classicism.

Dumas became a regular at the famous Nodier salon in the Arsenal, where representatives of the new school of romanticism gathered. He was one of the first to turn to the drama of modern life and dared to touch on the role of passion in modern society. What was also new was that the author endowed modern man with such intensity of feelings, which, according to generally accepted opinion, was more likely characteristic of the Renaissance. His play “Anthony” was brought to life by personal circumstances - at that time Dumas was experiencing a passion for the poetess Melanie Valdor, whom he portrayed in the image of Adele d’Herve. The premiere of the drama took place on May 3, 1831 at the Porte-Saint-Martin theater with Dorval and Bocage in the leading roles and “caused no less noise than the premiere of Hernani.”

For three years he participated in the struggle for a united Italy, and was personally acquainted and close with Garibaldi. Dumas took the news of the first defeats of the French during the Franco-Prussian War as a personal grief. Soon the first blow overtook him. Half-paralyzed, he managed to reach his son’s house, where he died a few months later.

In 2002, Dumas's ashes were transferred to the Paris Pantheon.

His works have been translated into many languages and served as material for numerous theatrical productions and films.

Creation

Was his play historical? No more and no less than the novels of Walter Scott. History is full of secrets. With Dumas everything turned out to be clear and definite. Catherine de Medici held the threads of all intrigues in her hands. Henry III frustrated the plans of the Duke of Guise. However, Dumas himself understood perfectly well that in reality all these adventures were much more complex. But what did this mean to him? He wanted only one thing - violent action. The era of Henry III, with its duels, conspiracies, orgies, and rampant political passions, reminded him of the Napoleonic era. The story in Dumas's treatment was the way the French wanted it to be: cheerful, colorful, built on contrasts, where Good was on one side, Evil on the other. The audience of 1829, filling the stalls, consisted of the very people who made the great revolution and fought in the armies of the empire. She liked it when kings and their deeds were presented in “pictures that are heroic, full of drama and therefore familiar to them.”

He also showed the history of France in two historical novels-biographies: “Louis XIV” and “Napoleon”.

Having returned to the regiment and conveyed to the commander what the situation was with Denisov’s case, Rostov went to Tilsit with a letter to the sovereign.
On June 13, the French and Russian emperors gathered in Tilsit. Boris Drubetskoy asked the important person with whom he was a member to be included in the retinue appointed to be in Tilsit.
“Je voudrais voir le grand homme, [I would like to see a great man," he said, speaking about Napoleon, whom he, like everyone else, had always called Buonaparte.
– Vous parlez de Buonaparte? [Are you talking about Buonaparte?] - the general told him, smiling.
Boris looked questioningly at his general and immediately realized that this was a joke test.
“Mon prince, je parle de l"empereur Napoleon, [Prince, I’m talking about Emperor Napoleon,] he answered. The general patted him on the shoulder with a smile.
“You will go far,” he told him and took him with him.
Boris was one of the few on the Neman on the day of the emperors' meeting; he saw the rafts with monograms, Napoleon's passage along the other bank past the French guard, he saw the thoughtful face of Emperor Alexander, while he sat silently in a tavern on the bank of the Neman, waiting for Napoleon's arrival; I saw how both emperors got into the boats and how Napoleon, having first landed on the raft, walked forward with quick steps and, meeting Alexander, gave him his hand, and how both disappeared into the pavilion. Since his entry into the higher worlds, Boris made himself a habit of carefully observing what was happening around him and recording it. During a meeting in Tilsit, he asked about the names of those persons who came with Napoleon, about the uniforms that they were wearing, and listened carefully to the words that were said by important persons. At the very time the emperors entered the pavilion, he looked at his watch and did not forget to look again at the time when Alexander left the pavilion. The meeting lasted an hour and fifty-three minutes: he wrote it down that evening among other facts that he believed were of historical significance. Since the emperor’s retinue was very small, for a person who valued success in his service, being in Tilsit during the meeting of the emperors was a very important matter, and Boris, once in Tilsit, felt that from that time his position was completely established. They not only knew him, but they took a closer look at him and got used to him. Twice he carried out orders for the sovereign himself, so that the sovereign knew him by sight, and all those close to him not only did not shy away from him, as before, considering him a new person, but would have been surprised if he had not been there.
Boris lived with another adjutant, the Polish Count Zhilinsky. Zhilinsky, a Pole raised in Paris, was rich, passionately loved the French, and almost every day during his stay in Tilsit, French officers from the guard and the main French headquarters gathered for lunch and breakfast with Zhilinsky and Boris.
On the evening of June 24, Count Zhilinsky, Boris's roommate, arranged a dinner for his French acquaintances. At this dinner there was an honored guest, one of Napoleon's adjutants, several officers of the French Guard and a young boy of an old aristocratic French family, Napoleon's page. On this very day, Rostov, taking advantage of the darkness so as not to be recognized, in civilian dress, arrived in Tilsit and entered the apartment of Zhilinsky and Boris.
In Rostov, as well as in the entire army from which he came, the revolution that took place in the main apartment and in Boris was still far from accomplished in relation to Napoleon and the French, who had become friends from enemies. Everyone in the army still continued to experience the same mixed feelings of anger, contempt and fear towards Bonaparte and the French. Until recently, Rostov, talking with Platovsky Cossack officer, argued that if Napoleon had been captured, he would have been treated not as a sovereign, but as a criminal. Just recently, on the road, having met a wounded French colonel, Rostov became heated, proving to him that there could be no peace between the legitimate sovereign and the criminal Bonaparte. Therefore, Rostov was strangely struck in Boris’s apartment by the sight of French officers in the very uniforms that he was accustomed to look at completely differently from the flanker chain. As soon as he saw the French officer leaning out of the door, that feeling of war, of hostility, which he always felt at the sight of the enemy, suddenly seized him. He stopped on the threshold and asked in Russian if Drubetskoy lived here. Boris, hearing someone else's voice in the hallway, came out to meet him. His face at the first minute, when he recognized Rostov, expressed annoyance.
“Oh, it’s you, I’m very glad, very glad to see you,” he said, however, smiling and moving towards him. But Rostov noticed his first movement.
“I don’t think I’m on time,” he said, “I wouldn’t have come, but I have something to do,” he said coldly...
- No, I’m just surprised how you came from the regiment. “Dans un moment je suis a vous,” [I am at your service this very minute," he turned to the voice of the one calling him.
“I see that I’m not on time,” Rostov repeated.
The expression of annoyance had already disappeared from Boris's face; Having apparently thought it over and decided what to do, he with particular calm took him by both hands and led him into the next room. Boris's eyes, calmly and firmly looking at Rostov, seemed to be covered with something, as if some kind of screen - blue dormitory glasses - were put on them. So it seemed to Rostov.
“Oh come on, please, can you be out of time,” said Boris. - Boris led him into the room where dinner was served, introduced him to the guests, calling him and explaining that he was not a civilian, but a hussar officer, his old friend. “Count Zhilinsky, le comte N.N., le capitaine S.S., [Count N.N., captain S.S.],” he called the guests. Rostov frowned at the French, bowed reluctantly and was silent.
Zhilinsky, apparently, did not happily accept this new Russian person into his circle and did not say anything to Rostov. Boris did not seem to notice the embarrassment that had occurred from the new face and, with the same pleasant calm and cloudiness in the eyes with which he met Rostov, tried to enliven the conversation. One of the French turned with ordinary French courtesy to the stubbornly silent Rostov and told him that he had probably come to Tilsit in order to see the emperor.
“No, I have business,” Rostov answered briefly.
Rostov became out of sorts immediately after he noticed the displeasure on Boris’s face, and, as always happens with people who are out of sorts, it seemed to him that everyone was looking at him with hostility and that he was disturbing everyone. And indeed he interfered with everyone and alone remained outside the newly started general conversation. “And why is he sitting here?” said the looks that the guests cast at him. He stood up and approached Boris.
“However, I’m embarrassing you,” he told him quietly, “let’s go, talk about business, and I’ll leave.”
“No, not at all,” said Boris. And if you are tired, let’s go to my room and lie down and rest.
- Indeed...
They entered the small room where Boris was sleeping. Rostov, without sitting down, immediately with irritation - as if Boris was guilty of something in front of him - began to tell him Denisov’s case, asking if he wanted and could ask about Denisov through his general from the sovereign and through him deliver a letter. When they were left alone, Rostov became convinced for the first time that he was embarrassed to look Boris in the eyes. Boris, crossing his legs and stroking the thin fingers of his right hand with his left hand, listened to Rostov, as a general listens to the report of a subordinate, now looking to the side, now with the same clouded gaze, looking directly into Rostov’s eyes. Each time Rostov felt awkward and lowered his eyes.
“I have heard about this kind of thing and I know that the Emperor is very strict in these cases. I think we should not bring it to His Majesty. In my opinion, it would be better to directly ask the corps commander... But in general I think...
- So you don’t want to do anything, just say so! - Rostov almost shouted, without looking into Boris’s eyes.
Boris smiled: “On the contrary, I’ll do what I can, but I thought...
At this time, Zhilinsky’s voice was heard at the door, calling Boris.
“Well, go, go, go...” said Rostov, refusing dinner, and being left alone in a small room, he walked back and forth in it for a long time, and listened to the cheerful French conversation from the next room.

Rostov arrived in Tilsit on a day least convenient for interceding for Denisov. He himself could not go to the general on duty, since he was in a tailcoat and arrived in Tilsit without the permission of his superiors, and Boris, even if he wanted, could not do this the next day after Rostov’s arrival. On this day, June 27, the first peace terms were signed. The emperors exchanged orders: Alexander received the Legion of Honor, and Napoleon Andrei 1st degree, and on this day a lunch was assigned to the Preobrazhensky battalion, which was given to him by the battalion of the French Guard. The sovereigns were supposed to attend this banquet.
Rostov felt so awkward and unpleasant with Boris that when Boris looked at him after dinner, he pretended to be asleep and early the next morning, trying not to see him, he left the house. In a tailcoat and a round hat, Nicholas wandered around the city, looking at the French and their uniforms, looking at the streets and houses where the Russian and French emperors lived. In the square he saw tables being set up and preparations for dinner; on the streets he saw hanging draperies with banners of Russian and French colors and huge monograms of A. and N. There were also banners and monograms in the windows of the houses.
“Boris doesn’t want to help me, and I don’t want to turn to him. This matter is decided - Nikolai thought - everything is over between us, but I will not leave here without doing everything I can for Denisov and, most importantly, without delivering the letter to the sovereign. Emperor?!... He’s here!” thought Rostov, involuntarily approaching again the house occupied by Alexander.
At this house there were riding horses and a retinue had gathered, apparently preparing for the departure of the sovereign.
“I can see him any minute,” thought Rostov. If only I could directly hand him the letter and tell him everything, would I really be arrested for wearing a tailcoat? Can't be! He would understand on whose side justice is. He understands everything, knows everything. Who could be fairer and more generous than him? Well, even if they arrested me for being here, what’s the harm?” he thought, looking at the officer entering the house occupied by the sovereign. “After all, they are sprouting. - Eh! It's all nonsense. I’ll go and submit the letter to the sovereign myself: so much the worse it will be for Drubetskoy, who brought me to this.” And suddenly, with a determination that he himself did not expect from himself, Rostov, feeling the letter in his pocket, went straight to the house occupied by the sovereign.
“No, now I won’t miss the opportunity, like after Austerlitz,” he thought, expecting every second to meet the sovereign and feeling a rush of blood to his heart at this thought. I will fall at my feet and ask him. He will raise me, listen and thank me.” “I am happy when I can do good, but correcting injustice is the greatest happiness,” Rostov imagined the words that the sovereign would say to him. And he walked past those who were looking at him curiously, onto the porch of the house occupied by the sovereign.
From the porch a wide staircase led straight upstairs; to the right a closed door was visible. At the bottom of the stairs there was a door to the lower floor.
-Who do you want? - someone asked.
“Submit a letter, a request to His Majesty,” said Nikolai with a trembling voice.
- Please contact the duty officer, please come here (he was shown the door below). They just won't accept it.
Hearing this indifferent voice, Rostov was afraid of what he was doing; the thought of meeting the sovereign at any moment was so tempting and therefore so terrible for him that he was ready to flee, but the chamberlain Fourier, who met him, opened the door to the duty room for him and Rostov entered.
A short, plump man of about 30, in white trousers, over the knee boots and one cambric shirt, apparently just put on, stood in this room; the valet was fastening beautiful new silk-embroidered footrests on his back, which for some reason Rostov noticed. This man was talking to someone who was in another room.
“Bien faite et la beaute du diable, [Well-built and the beauty of youth," this man said, and when he saw Rostov he stopped talking and frowned.
-What do you want? Request?…
– Qu"est ce que c"est? [What is this?] - someone asked from another room.
“Encore un petitionnaire, [Another petitioner,”] answered the man with the help.
- Tell him what's next. It's coming out now, we have to go.
- After the day after tomorrow. Late…
Rostov turned and wanted to go out, but the man in the arms stopped him.
- From whom? Who are you?
“From Major Denisov,” Rostov answered.
- Who are you? Officer?
- Lieutenant, Count Rostov.
- What courage! Give it on command. And go, go... - And he began to put on the uniform handed to him by the valet.
Rostov went out again into the vestibule and noticed that on the porch there were already many officers and generals in full dress uniform, whom he had to pass by.
Cursing his courage, frozen by the thought that at any moment he could meet the sovereign and in his presence be disgraced and sent under arrest, fully understanding the indecency of his act and repenting of it, Rostov, with downcast eyes, made his way out of the house, surrounded by a crowd of brilliant retinue , when someone's familiar voice called out to him and someone's hand stopped him.
- What are you doing here, father, in a tailcoat? – his bass voice asked.
This was a cavalry general who earned the special favor of the sovereign during this campaign, the former head of the division in which Rostov served.
Rostov fearfully began to make excuses, but seeing the good-naturedly playful face of the general, he moved to the side and in an excited voice conveyed the whole matter to him, asking him to intercede for Denisov, known to the general. The general, after listening to Rostov, seriously shook his head.
- It’s a pity, it’s a pity for the fellow; give me a letter.
Rostov barely had time to hand over the letter and tell Denisov’s whole business when quick steps with spurs began to sound from the stairs and the general, moving away from him, moved towards the porch. The gentlemen of the sovereign's retinue ran down the stairs and went to the horses. Bereitor Ene, the same one who was in Austerlitz, brought the sovereign's horse, and a light creaking of steps was heard on the stairs, which Rostov now recognized. Forgetting the danger of being recognized, Rostov moved with several curious residents to the porch itself and again, after two years, he saw the same features he adored, the same face, the same look, the same gait, the same combination of greatness and meekness... And the feeling of delight and love for the sovereign was resurrected with the same strength in Rostov’s soul. The Emperor in the Preobrazhensky uniform, in white leggings and high boots, with a star that Rostov did not know (it was legion d'honneur) [star of the Legion of Honor] went out onto the porch, holding his hat at hand and putting on a glove. He stopped, looking around and that's it illuminating the surroundings with his gaze, he said a few words to some of the generals. He also recognized the former chief of the division, Rostov, smiled at him and called him over.
The entire retinue retreated, and Rostov saw how this general said something to the sovereign for quite a long time.
The Emperor said a few words to him and took a step to approach the horse. Again the crowd of the retinue and the crowd of the street in which Rostov was located moved closer to the sovereign. Stopping by the horse and holding the saddle with his hand, the sovereign turned to the cavalry general and spoke loudly, obviously with the desire for everyone to hear him.
“I can’t, general, and that’s why I can’t because the law is stronger than me,” said the sovereign and raised his foot in the stirrup. The general bowed his head respectfully, the sovereign sat down and galloped down the street. Rostov, beside himself with delight, ran after him with the crowd.

On the square where the sovereign went, a battalion of Preobrazhensky soldiers stood face to face on the right, and a battalion of the French Guard in bearskin hats on the left.
While the sovereign was approaching one flank of the battalions, which were on guard duty, another crowd of horsemen jumped up to the opposite flank and ahead of them Rostov recognized Napoleon. It couldn't be anyone else. He rode at a gallop in a small hat, with a St. Andrew's ribbon over his shoulder, in a blue uniform open over a white camisole, on an unusually thoroughbred Arabian gray horse, on a crimson, gold embroidered saddle cloth. Having approached Alexander, he raised his hat and with this movement, Rostov’s cavalry eye could not help but notice that Napoleon was sitting poorly and not firmly on his horse. The battalions shouted: Hurray and Vive l "Empereur! [Long live the Emperor!] Napoleon said something to Alexander. Both emperors got off their horses and took each other's hands. There was an unpleasantly feigned smile on Napoleon's face. Alexander said something to him with an affectionate expression .
Rostov, without taking his eyes off, despite the trampling of the horses of the French gendarmes besieging the crowd, followed every move of Emperor Alexander and Bonaparte. He was struck as a surprise by the fact that Alexander behaved as an equal with Bonaparte, and that Bonaparte was completely free, as if this closeness with the sovereign was natural and familiar to him, as an equal, he treated the Russian Tsar.
Alexander and Napoleon with a long tail of their retinue approached the right flank of the Preobrazhensky battalion, directly towards the crowd that stood there. The crowd suddenly found itself so close to the emperors that Rostov, who was standing in the front rows, became afraid that they would recognize him.
“Sire, je vous demande la permission de donner la legion d"honneur au plus brave de vos soldats, [Sire, I ask your permission to give the Order of the Legion of Honor to the bravest of your soldiers,] said a sharp, precise voice, finishing each letter It was the short Bonaparte who spoke, looking directly into Alexander’s eyes, Alexander listened attentively to what was being said, and bowed his head, smiling pleasantly.
“A celui qui s"est le plus vaillament conduit dans cette derieniere guerre, [To the one who showed himself bravest during the war],” Napoleon added, emphasizing each syllable, with a calm and confidence outrageous for Rostov, looking around the ranks of Russians stretched out in front of there are soldiers, keeping everything on guard and motionlessly looking into the face of their emperor.
“Votre majeste me permettra t elle de demander l"avis du colonel? [Your Majesty will allow me to ask the colonel’s opinion?] - said Alexander and took several hasty steps towards Prince Kozlovsky, the battalion commander. Meanwhile, Bonaparte began to take off his white glove, small hand and tearing it apart, the Adjutant threw it, hastily rushing forward from behind, and picked it up.
- Who should I give it to? – Emperor Alexander asked Kozlovsky not loudly, in Russian.
- Whom do you order, Your Majesty? “The Emperor winced with displeasure and, looking around, said:
- But you have to answer him.
Kozlovsky looked back at the ranks with a decisive look and in this glance captured Rostov as well.
“Isn’t it me?” thought Rostov.
- Lazarev! – the colonel commanded with a frown; and the first-ranked soldier, Lazarev, smartly stepped forward.
-Where are you going? Stop here! - voices whispered to Lazarev, who did not know where to go. Lazarev stopped, looked sideways at the colonel in fear, and his face trembled, as happens with soldiers called to the front.
Napoleon slightly turned his head back and pulled back his small chubby hand, as if wanting to take something. The faces of his retinue, having guessed at that very second what was going on, began to fuss, whisper, passing something on to one another, and the page, the same one whom Rostov saw yesterday at Boris’s, ran forward and respectfully bent over the outstretched hand and did not make her wait either one second, he put an order on a red ribbon into it. Napoleon, without looking, clenched two fingers. The Order found itself between them. Napoleon approached Lazarev, who, rolling his eyes, stubbornly continued to look only at his sovereign, and looked back at Emperor Alexander, thereby showing that what he was doing now, he was doing for his ally. A small white hand with an order touched the button of soldier Lazarev. It was as if Napoleon knew that in order for this soldier to be happy, rewarded and distinguished from everyone else in the world forever, it was only necessary for him, Napoleon’s hand, to be worthy of touching the soldier’s chest. Napoleon just put the cross to Lazarev's chest and, letting go of his hand, turned to Alexander, as if he knew that the cross should stick to Lazarev's chest. The cross really stuck.
Helpful Russian and French hands instantly picked up the cross and attached it to the uniform. Lazarev looked gloomily at the little man with white hands, who was doing something above him, and, continuing to keep him motionless on guard, again began to look straight into Alexander’s eyes, as if he was asking Alexander: whether he should still stand, or whether they would order him should I go for a walk now, or maybe do something else? But he was not ordered to do anything, and he remained in this motionless state for quite a long time.