Dumas, Alexandre, the Elder. A celebrated French author. Born in Villers-Cotterets, 1802, son of General Dumas, a Creole. Lost his father at four, and led for a time to miscellaneous life until, driven by poverty, Dumas went to Paris to seek his fortune. There he soon made his mark, and became by-and-by the most popular dramatist and romancer of his timer. His romances are numerous, and Dumas reached the climax of his fame by the production of "Monte Cristo" in 1844, followed soon after by the "Three Musketeers." He was unhappy in his marriage, and with his wife, as afterwards, Dumas squandered his fortune in reckless extravagance. Before the end it was all spent, and he died at Dieppe, 1870, broken in health and impaired in intellect, ministered to by his son and daughter.

---