{"id":7903,"date":"2011-07-01T21:24:42","date_gmt":"2011-07-01T19:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=7903"},"modified":"2017-10-19T14:38:47","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T12:38:47","slug":"all-for-one-and-one-for-al-exandre-dumas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/all-for-one-and-one-for-al-exandre-dumas\/","title":{"rendered":"All For One, And One For Al…exandre Dumas!"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you take the Paris metro these days, you’ll notice a mini-story of Alexandre Dumas<\/strong>, who lent his name to a station de m\u00e9tro !<\/strong><\/em>
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Born in 1802<\/strong>, a year before the outburst of the Napoleonic Wars<\/span><\/a><\/strong>, the same year as Victor Hugo<\/span><\/a><\/strong> was born, he was the son, just like Hugo, of a\u00a0G\u00e9n\u00e9ral d’Empire.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

His father, also general of the French Revolution<\/span><\/a>,<\/strong> of Haitian<\/span><\/a> origin, was particularly feared by the Austrians, who nicknamed him “le Diable Noir<\/em><\/strong>” (“the Black Devil.”)<\/span><\/p>\n

By his full name,\u00a0Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie<\/strong>, he\u00a0is by far the most prolific French author of his time:\u00a0More than 300 volumes <\/strong><\/em>that outline his dramaticwork:\u00a0Les Trois mousquetaires<\/span><\/a> <\/em><\/strong>(The Three Musketeers), le Comte de Monte-Cristo <\/strong><\/em>(The Count of Monte Cristo), Jospeh Balsamo, La Reine Margot<\/strong><\/em> (The Queen Margot.)<\/span><\/p>\n

He mastered the art of taking the reader’s breath, and was\u00a0known to have made this confession:”Amuser, int\u00e9resser, voil\u00e0 mes seules r\u00e8gles<\/strong><\/em>” (“To entertain, to stir interest, those are my only rules.”<\/span><\/p>\n

One day, his son found him all in tears: “Porthos est mort, j’ai \u00e9t\u00e9 oblig\u00e9 de le sacrifier…<\/strong><\/em>” (“Porthos is dead, I was forced to sacrifice him…”)<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1844-1846<\/strong>, he built the ch\u00e2teau<\/strong><\/em> of his dreams west of Paris<\/strong>: The\u00a0Ch\u00e2teau de Monte<\/strong>-Cristo<\/strong><\/em>, which boasted a remarkable Moorish room designed by two Tunisian<\/strong> architects he met in French-occupied Maghreb.<\/span><\/p>\n

A few years later, however, he was completely bankrupt. Like Victor Hugo<\/span><\/a><\/strong>, who fled France after the coup d’\u00e9tat of Napoleon III<\/strong>, he was on the run, but for entirely different motivations: More than a hundred cr\u00e9anciers<\/strong><\/em> (creditors) were chasing him!<\/span><\/p>\n

Later on, he came back to France, published numerous\u00a0pi\u00e8ces de th\u00e9\u00e2tre <\/strong><\/em>(theater plays)\u00a0and romans <\/strong><\/em>(novels), and ran, \u00e0 lui tout seul<\/em><\/strong> (single-handedly), several revues <\/strong><\/em>(magazines), thus earning him the highest admiration of his fans, and the embittered jealousy of his foes.<\/span><\/p>\n

His f\u00e9condit\u00e9 litt\u00e9raire<\/strong><\/em> was such that his son, Alexandre Dumas “Junior”<\/strong>, author of La Dame aux Cam\u00e9lias<\/strong><\/em> and academician, inherited it as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, in 1970<\/strong>, the metro station Bagnolet<\/strong> was renamed Alexandre Dumas<\/strong>. However, it was only in 2002<\/strong>, during the 200th commemoration of his birthday, that his remains were moved to the Pantheon<\/strong>—next to Victor Hugo<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

If you take the Paris metro these days, you’ll notice a mini-story of Alexandre Dumas, who lent his name to a station de m\u00e9tro ! Born in 1802, a year before the outburst of the Napoleonic Wars, the same year as Victor Hugo was born, he was the son, just like Hugo, of a\u00a0G\u00e9n\u00e9ral d’Empire…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":23729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,13],"tags":[9235,55350,55351,55352,55050,55349,9138],"class_list":["post-7903","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-vocabulary","tag-alexandre-dumas","tag-chateau-de-monte-cristo","tag-jospeh-balsamo","tag-la-reine-margot","tag-les-trois-mousquetaires","tag-metro-de-paris","tag-victor-hugo"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t