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57-567: According to the Swiss ethnologist Albert Samuel Gatschet , the name Chillon derives from the Waldensian dialect and means "flat stone, slab, platform". The name Castrum Quilonis , attested from 1195, would, therefore, mean "castle built on a rock platform. The castle of Chillon is built on the island of Chillon, an oval limestone rock advancing in Lake Geneva between Montreux and Villeneuve with

114-484: A New Zealand pharmacist who never visited France, amassed the greatest collection of books and manuscripts relating to Dumas outside France. The collection contains about 3,350 volumes, including some 2,000 sheets in Dumas's handwriting and dozens of French, Belgian and English first editions. The collection was donated to Auckland Libraries after his death. Reed wrote the most comprehensive bibliography of Dumas. In 2002, for

171-432: A Swiss scientist is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This biography of a United States linguist is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about an ethnologist is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie , 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père ,

228-412: A few years and then to Italy. In 1861, he founded and published the newspaper L'Indépendent , which supported Italian unification . He returned to Paris in 1864. English playwright Watts Phillips , who knew Dumas in his later life, described him as "the most generous, large-hearted being in the world. He also was the most delightfully amusing and egotistical creature on the face of the earth. His tongue

285-549: A gourmet and an expert cook. An abridged version (the Petit Dictionnaire de cuisine , or Small Dictionary of Cuisine ) was published in 1883. He was also known for his travel writing. These books included: French historian Alain Decaux founded the "Société des Amis d'Alexandre Dumas" (The Society of Friends of Alexandre Dumas) in 1971. As of August 2017 its president is Claude Schopp. The purpose in creating this society

342-510: A great deal of money, but he was frequently insolvent, as he spent lavishly on women and sumptuous living. (Scholars have found that he had a total of 40 mistresses. ) In 1846, he had built a country house outside Paris at Le Port-Marly , the large Château de Monte-Cristo , with an additional building for his writing studio. It often was filled with strangers and acquaintances who stayed for lengthy visits and took advantage of his generosity. Two years later, faced with financial difficulties, he sold

399-468: A marriage licence, that his mother's name was "Marie-Cessette Dumas". Some scholars have suggested that Thomas-Alexandre devised the surname "Dumas" for himself when he felt the need for one, and that he attributed it to his mother when convenient. "Dumas" means "of the farm" ( du mas ), perhaps signifying only that Marie-Cessette belonged to the farm property. While working for Louis-Philippe, Alexandre Dumas began writing articles for magazines and plays for

456-567: A photomural of Chateau Chillon. The castle has twice hosted the Compagnie du Graal theatre company, based in Thonon-les-Bains , in 2009 for a sound and light adaptation of Shakespeare 's King Lear and again in 2012 for the creation of an epic fresco inspired by the titan of Greek mythology, Hyperion . Albert Samuel Gatschet Albert Samuel Gatschet (October 3, 1832, Beatenberg , Canton of Bern – March 16, 1907, Washington, D.C. )

513-501: A previous relationship for "an exorbitant amount" and made Marie-Cessette his concubine . Thomas-Alexandre was the only son born to them, but they had two or three daughters. In 1775, following the death of both his brothers, Antoine left Saint-Domingue for France in order to claim the family estates and the title of Marquis. Shortly before his departure, he sold Marie-Cessette and their two daughters (Adolphe and Jeanette), as well as Marie-Cessette's oldest daughter Marie-Rose (whose father

570-535: A racial identity for Marie-Cessette Dumas refer to her as a " négresse " (a black woman) as opposed to a " mulâtresse " (a woman of visible mixed race). It is unknown whether Marie-Cessette was born in Saint-Domingue or in Africa, nor is it known from which African people her ancestors came. What is known is that, sometime after becoming estranged from his brothers, Antoine purchased Marie-Cessette and her daughter from

627-616: A steep side on one side and on the other side the lake and its steep bottom. The placement of the castle is strategic: it guards the passage between the Vaud Riviera  [ fr ] , which allows access to the north towards Germany and France , and the Rhone valley , a quick route to Italy , and offers a viewpoint over the Savoyard coast on the opposite side of the lake. A garrison could thus control (both militarily and commercially) access to

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684-553: A symbolic and premonitory significance for Daisy Miller, who thinks she can escape the shackles of social conventions. In 1890, watchmaker Edouard- GabrielWuthrich, finished a mechanical automaton that took five years to make. Made of zinc , steel and brass it is a 1/100 scale model illustrating the capture of the castle and liberation of François Bonivard by the Bernese in 1536. Measuring 100 cm × 67 cm × 42 cm (39 in × 26 in × 17 in), it

741-674: A writer. As newspapers were publishing many serial novels, he began producing these. His first serial novel was La Comtesse de Salisbury ; Édouard III (July-September 1836). In 1838, Dumas rewrote one of his plays as a successful serial historical novel, Le Capitaine Paul ('Captain Paul'), partly based on the life of the Scottish-American naval officer John Paul Jones . He founded a production studio, staffed with writers who turned out hundreds of stories, all subject to his personal direction, editing, and additions. From 1839 to 1841, Dumas, with

798-575: Is decorated with 14th century murals . Having been inspired by the story of François Bonivard after a visit to the castle, Lord Byron wrote a poem entitled The Prisoner of Chillon in 1816 about François. Byron supposedly carved his name on a pillar of the dungeon. Letitia Elizabeth Landon included a poetical illustration to a painting of the castle by Samuel Prout (engraved by J. B. Allen), [REDACTED] 'The Castle of Chillon' . in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1838. Gustave Courbet painted

855-517: Is equipped with a music box with original sheet music handwritten by Genevan composer E. Perrin and includes one hundred moving figurines, including many small soldiers and scenes of torture in dungeons visible through barred windows. The automaton disappeared for decades and was eventually purchased by the Association of Friends of Chillon, the Cantonal Museum of Archeology and History (MCAH) and

912-656: Is written as Grisier's account of how he came to witness the events of the Decembrist revolt in Russia. The novel was eventually banned in Russia by Czar Nicholas I , and Dumas was prohibited from visiting the country until after the Czar's death. Dumas refers to Grisier with great respect in The Count of Monte Cristo , The Corsican Brothers , and in his memoirs. Dumas depended on numerous assistants and collaborators, of whom Auguste Maquet

969-796: The Duke of Orléans , who ruled as Louis-Philippe , the Citizen King. Until the mid-1830s, life in France remained unsettled, with sporadic riots by disgruntled Republicans and impoverished urban workers seeking change. As life slowly returned to normal, the nation began to industrialise. An improving economy combined with the end of press censorship made the times rewarding for Alexandre Dumas's literary skills. After writing additional successful plays, Dumas switched to writing novels. Although attracted to an extravagant lifestyle and always spending more than he earned, Dumas proved to be an astute marketing strategist as well as

1026-642: The Great Saint Bernard Pass . A charter of 1150, in which Count Humbert III granted the Cistercians of Hautcrêt free passage to Chillon, shows that the castle was under the authority of the House of Savoy . From the mid 12th century, the castle was summer home to the Counts of Savoy , who kept a fleet of ships on Lake Geneva. The castle was greatly expanded in 1248 and 1266-7 by Count Peter II . During this time

1083-646: The Paris Métro named a station in his honour . His country home outside Paris, the Château de Monte-Cristo , has been restored and is open to the public as a museum. Researchers have continued to find Dumas works in archives, including the five-act play The Gold Thieves , found in 2002 by the scholar Réginald Hamel  [ fr ] in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. It was published in France in 2004 by Honoré-Champion. Frank Wild Reed (1874–1953),

1140-604: The Zurich Antiquity Society, Johann Rudolf Rahn boasted about it, while the German Emperor, William II , inquired about the Chillon model when planning the reconstruction of the fortress of Haut-Koenigsbourg . Due to these restorations, the castle is in excellent condition and is a good model of feudal architecture. From the end of the 18th century, the castle attracted romantic writers and inspired poets from around

1197-697: The kingdom of Italy was proclaimed, with Victor Emmanuel II as its king. Dumas travelled there and for the next three years participated in the movement for Italian unification . He founded and led a newspaper, Indipendente . While there, he befriended Giuseppe Garibaldi , whom he had long admired and with whom he shared a commitment to liberal republican principles as well as membership within Freemasonry . Returning to Paris in 1864, he published travel books about Italy. Despite Dumas's aristocratic background and personal success, he had to deal with discrimination related to his mixed-race ancestry. In 1843, he wrote

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1254-628: The Army and was promoted to general by the age of 31, the first soldier of Afro-Antilles origin to reach that rank in the French army. The family surname ("de la Pailleterie") was never bestowed upon Thomas-Alexandre, who therefore used "Dumas" as his surname. This is often assumed to have been his mother's surname, but in fact, the surname "Dumas" occurs only once in connection with Marie-Cessette, and that happens in Europe, when Thomas-Alexandre states, while applying for

1311-642: The Castle Foundation, for 59,000 Swiss francs , at an auction held in Paris in March 2016. The painter E. Lapierre depicted the castle in oil on canvas in 1896. Chillon was used as the cover image of Bill Evans' 1968 live album Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival and inspired the castle in the 1989 Disney animated film The Little Mermaid . Patrick Caulfield 's painting After Lunch (1975) includes

1368-474: The Sainte-Hermine saga. Schopp combined them to publish the sequel Le Salut de l'Empire in 2008. Alexandre Dumas wrote numerous stories and historical chronicles of adventure. They included the following: In addition, Dumas wrote many series of novels: The d'Artagnan Romances : The Valois were the royal house of France from 1328 to 1589, and many Dumas romances cover their reign. Traditionally,

1425-610: The assistance of several friends, compiled Celebrated Crimes , an eight-volume collection of essays on famous criminals and crimes from European history. He featured Beatrice Cenci , Martin Guerre , Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia , as well as more recent events and criminals, including the cases of the alleged murderers Karl Ludwig Sand and Antoine François Desrues , who were executed. Dumas collaborated with Augustin Grisier, his fencing master, in his 1840 novel, The Fencing Master . The story

1482-504: The bicentenary of Dumas's birth, French President Jacques Chirac held a ceremony honouring the author by having his ashes re-interred at the mausoleum of the Panthéon , where many French luminaries were buried. When Chirac ordered the transfer to the mausoleum, villagers in Dumas's hometown of Villers-Cotterets were initially opposed, arguing that Dumas laid out in his memoirs that he wanted to be buried there. The village eventually bowed to

1539-513: The castle several times during his Swiss exile in nearby La Tour-de-Peilz . The most famous representation is "The Castle of Chillon," oil on canvas painted in 1874 and currently located at the Musée Courbet in Ornans . In his 1878 novel " Daisy Miller ", Henry James has his heroine and a young American compatriot, Winterbourne, visit Chillon Castle. The one-time prison of François Bonivard assumes

1596-615: The castle was captured by a Bernese army, and all the prisoners, including Bonivard, were released. The castle became the residence for the Bernese bailiff. In 1798, the French-speaking canton of Vaud drove out the German-speaking Bernese authorities and declared the Lemanic Republic . The Vaudois invited in French troops to help them maintain autonomy from the other Swiss. When the French moved in and occupied , Chillon

1653-450: The castle's website, "Switzerland's most visited historic monument". There are parking spaces and a nearby bus stop. Inside the castle are recreations of the interiors of some of the main rooms including the grand bedroom, hall, and cave stores. Visitors can view four great halls, three courtyards, and a series of bedrooms including the Camera domini , which was occupied by the Duke of Savoy and

1710-441: The daughter of an innkeeper, and Thomas-Alexandre Dumas . Thomas-Alexandre had been born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), the mixed-race , natural son of the marquis Alexandre Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie (Antoine), a French nobleman and général commissaire in the artillery of the colony, and Marie-Cessette Dumas , an enslaved woman of Afro-Caribbean ancestry. The two extant primary documents that state

1767-541: The distinctive windows were added by Master James of Saint George , who is believed also to have added similar windows to Harlech Castle in Wales at a later date. The counts and dukes of Savoy used the castle as a residence but also to house prisoners. Its most famous prisoner was probably François de Bonivard , a Genevois monk, prior of St. Victor in Geneva and historian, who was imprisoned there for six years in 1530. In 1536,

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1824-400: The entire property. Dumas wrote in a wide variety of genres and published a total of 100,000 pages in his lifetime. He made use of his experience, writing travel books after taking journeys, including those motivated by reasons other than pleasure. Dumas travelled to Spain, Italy, Germany, England and French Algeria . After King Louis-Philippe was ousted in a revolt, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte

1881-565: The first. He wrote numerous magazine articles and travel books; his published works totalled 100,000 pages. In the 1840s, Dumas founded the Théâtre Historique in Paris. His father, General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie , was born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti ) to Alexandre Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie, a French nobleman, and Marie-Cessette Dumas , an African slave. At age 14, Thomas-Alexandre

1938-519: The government's decision, and Dumas's body was exhumed from its cemetery and put into a new coffin in preparation for the transfer. The proceedings were televised: the new coffin was draped in a blue velvet cloth and carried on a caisson flanked by four mounted Republican Guards costumed as the four Musketeers . It was transported through Paris to the Panthéon. In his speech, Chirac said: With you, we were D'Artagnan, Monte Cristo, or Balsamo, riding along

1995-459: The peak of her success. With Victor Hugo , Charles Baudelaire , Gérard de Nerval , Eugène Delacroix and Honoré de Balzac , Dumas was a member of the Club des Hashischins , which met monthly to take hashish at a hotel in Paris. Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo contains several references to hashish. On 5 December 1870, Dumas died at the age of 68 of natural causes, possibly a heart attack. He

2052-569: The road to Italy and apply a toll. Chillon has been a military site since the central Middle Ages and the development of the current castle spans three periods: the Savoy Period, the Bernese Period, and the Vaudois Period. A square donjon was built on the island in the 11th century but we don't know the identity of the works' commissioner. It was built to control the road from Burgundy to

2109-667: The roads of France, touring battlefields, visiting palaces and castles—with you, we dream. Chirac acknowledged the racism that had existed in France and said that the re-interment in the Pantheon had been a way of correcting that wrong, as Alexandre Dumas was enshrined alongside fellow great authors Victor Hugo and Émile Zola . Chirac noted that although France has produced many great writers, none has been so widely read as Dumas. His novels have been translated into nearly 100 languages, and inspired more than 200 motion pictures. In June 2005, Dumas's last novel, The Knight of Sainte-Hermine ,

2166-499: The scholar Claude Schopp lists nearly 40 mistresses. He is known to have fathered at least four children by them: About 1866, Dumas had an affair with Adah Isaacs Menken , an American actress who was less than half his age and at the height of her career. She had performed her sensational role in Mazeppa in London. In Paris, she had a sold-out run of Les Pirates de la Savanne and was at

2223-545: The short novel Georges , which addressed some of the issues of race and the effects of colonialism. His response to a man who insulted him about his partial African ancestry has become famous. Dumas said: My father was a mulatto , my grandfather was a Negro, and my great-grandfather a monkey. You see, Sir, my family starts where yours ends. On 1 February 1840, Dumas married actress Ida Ferrier (born Marguerite-Joséphine Ferrand) (1811–1859). They did not have any children together. Dumas had numerous liaisons with other women;

2280-472: The short versions (50 chapters or less) number eight in total: Although best known now as a novelist, Dumas first earned fame as a dramatist. His Henri III et sa cour (1829) was the first of the great Romantic historical dramas produced on the Paris stage, preceding Victor Hugo's more famous Hernani (1830). Produced at the Comédie-Française and starring the famous Mademoiselle Mars , Dumas's play

2337-616: The so-called "Valois Romances" are the three that portray the Reign of Queen Marguerite , the last of the Valois. Dumas, however, later wrote four more novels that cover this family and portray similar characters, starting with François or Francis I , his son Henry II , and Marguerite and François II , sons of Henry II and Catherine de' Medici . The Marie Antoinette romances comprise eight novels. The unabridged versions (normally 100 chapters or more) comprise only five books (numbers 1, 3, 4, 7 and 8);

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2394-500: The theatre. As an adult, he used the surname of Dumas, as his father had done as an adult. His first play, Henry III and His Court , produced in 1829 when he was 27 years old, met with acclaim. The next year, his second play, Christine , was equally popular. These successes gave him sufficient income to write full-time. In 1830, Dumas participated in the Revolution that ousted Charles X and replaced him with Dumas's former employer,

2451-491: The unfinished work. It took him years to research it, edit the completed portions, and decide how to treat the unfinished part. Schopp finally wrote the final two-and-a-half chapters, based on the author's notes, to complete the story. Published by Éditions Phébus , it sold 60,000 copies, making it a best seller. Translated into English, it was released in 2006 as The Last Cavalier, and has been translated into other languages. Schopp has since found additional material related to

2508-419: The world, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau , Victor Hugo , Alexandre Dumas , Gustave Flaubert , Mary Shelley and Lord Byron . By 1939, helped by its proximity to the popular tourist destination Montreux , the castle was attracting over 100,000 visitors a year. By 2005, this number had increased to 300,000. Chillon remains open to the public for visits and tours on an entrance fee basis and is, according to

2565-558: Was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the most widely read French authors. Many of his historical novels of adventure were originally published as serials , including The Count of Monte Cristo , The Three Musketeers , Twenty Years After and The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later . Since the early 20th century, his novels have been adapted into nearly 200 films. Prolific in several genres, Dumas began his career by writing plays, which were successfully produced from

2622-668: Was a Swiss-American ethnologist who trained as a linguist in the universities of Bern and Berlin . He later moved to the United States and settled there in order to study Native American languages , a field in which he was a pioneer. In 1877 he became an ethnologist with the US Geological Survey . In 1879 he became a member of the Bureau of American Ethnology , which was part of the Smithsonian Institution . In 1884, he

2679-516: Was a different man) to a baron who had recently come from Nantes to settle in Saint Domingue. Antoine however retained ownership of Thomas-Alexandre (his only natural son) and took the boy with him to France. There, Thomas-Alexandre received his freedom and a sparse education at a military school, adequate to enable him to join the French army, there being no question of the mixed-race boy being accepted as his father's heir. Thomas-Alexandre did well in

2736-525: Was an enormous success and launched him on his career. It had 50 performances over the next year, extraordinary at the time. Dumas's works included: Dumas wrote many plays and adapted several of his novels as dramas. In the 1840s, he founded the Théâtre Historique , located on the Boulevard du Temple in Paris. The building was used after 1852 by the Opéra National (established by Adolphe Adam in 1847). It

2793-468: Was buried at his birthplace of Villers-Cotterêts in the department of Aisne. His death was overshadowed by the Franco-Prussian War . Changing literary fashions decreased his popularity. In the late 20th century, scholars such as Reginald Hamel and Claude Schopp have caused a critical reappraisal and new appreciation of his art, as well as finding lost works. In 1970, upon the centenary of his death,

2850-666: Was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society . Gatschet published his observations of the Karankawa people of Texas . His study of the Klamath people located in present-day Oregon , published in 1890, is recognized as outstanding. In 1902 Gatschet was elected as a member of the American Antiquarian Society , whose members were studying ancient and historic peoples. This article about

2907-444: Was elected president. As Bonaparte disapproved of the author, Dumas fled in 1851 to Brussels, Belgium, which was also an effort to escape his creditors. In about 1859, he moved to Russia , where French was the second language of the elite and his writings were enormously popular. Dumas spent two years in Russia and visited St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, Astrakhan, Baku, and Tbilisi. He published travel books about Russia. In March 1861,

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2964-530: Was like a windmill – once set in motion, you would never know when he would stop, especially if the theme was himself." Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (later known as Alexandre Dumas) was born in 1802 in Villers-Cotterêts in the department of Aisne , in Picardy , France. He had two older sisters, Marie-Alexandrine (born 1794) and Louise-Alexandrine (1796–1797). Their parents were Marie-Louise Élisabeth Labouret,

3021-466: Was published in France featuring the Battle of Trafalgar . Dumas described a fictional character killing Lord Nelson (Nelson was shot and killed by an unknown sniper). Writing and publishing the novel serially in 1869, Dumas had nearly finished it before his death. It was the third part of the Sainte-Hermine trilogy. Claude Schopp, a Dumas scholar, noticed a letter in an archive in 1990 that led him to discover

3078-473: Was renamed the Théâtre Lyrique in 1851. Dumas was a prolific writer of nonfiction. He wrote journal articles on politics and culture and books on French history. His lengthy Grand Dictionnaire de cuisine ( Great Dictionary of Cuisine ) was published posthumously in 1873, and several editions of it are still in print today. A combination of encyclopaedia and cookbook, it reflects Dumas's interests as both

3135-449: Was taken by his father to France, where he was educated in a military academy and entered the military for what became an illustrious career. Alexandre acquired work with Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans , then as a writer, a career that led to his early success. Decades later, after the election of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte in 1851, Dumas fell from favour and left France for Belgium, where he stayed for several years. He moved to Russia for

3192-562: Was the best known. It was not until the late twentieth century that his role was fully understood. Dumas wrote the short novel Georges (1843), which uses ideas and plots later repeated in The Count of Monte Cristo . Maquet took Dumas to court to try to get authorial recognition and a higher rate of payment for his work. He was successful in getting more money, but not a by-line. Dumas's novels were so popular that they were soon translated into English and other languages. His writing earned him

3249-448: Was used as a munitions and weapons depot. At the end of the 19th century, a systematic restoration of the monument was undertaken, through which an ethic of monumental restoration was developed in one of the first cases of the application of archaeology and history to rebuild a structure in a historically accurate way. This was possible because of the combination of four factors: The result was judged to be exemplary. In an 1898 lecture to

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