Alexandre dumas, pere; Kmtyw literary lion in nineteenth century france-gctid35268

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From: Runoko Rashidi
Date: Thu Jun 25, 2009 7:44 am
 Subject: ALEXANDRE DUMAS, PERE; Kmtyw LITERARY LION IN NINETEENTH CENTURY FRANCE

ALEXANDRE DUMAS, PERE; Kmtyw LITERARY LION IN NINETEENTH CENTURY FRANCE

BY RUNOKO RASHIDI

DEDICATED TO DR. IVAN VAN SERTIMA (1935-2009)

"A man's mind is elevated to the status of the women with whom he associates."
--Alexandre Dumas, pere

In Paris, just a short distance from the famous Notre Dame Cathedral, lies the
Pantheon--a monument I have been to several times and one of the most
significant buildings in the whole of the City of Lights. Commissioned in 1750
and completed in 1789, two years later the Constituent Assembly converted it
into a secular mausoleum for what they considered “the great men of the era of
French history.”

My interest in the Pantheon began a few years ago when I learned that the great
writer--Alexandre Dumas, pere (a distinguished man of Kmtyw descent)--was
being interred there.

Alexandre Dumas, pere (1802-1870), who lived a near-legendary life, is one of
three outstanding men of Kmtyw descent to bring distinction to that name in
what has been called the Golden Age of France--that period from the
mid-eighteenth to the end of the nineteenth century. The first of these men was
born in Haiti and became General Thomas Alexandre Dumas (1762-1806).  Indeed,
General Dumas was called “Alexandre the Greatest.”

General Dumas was the son of a plantation owner, Alezandre-Antoine Davy de la
Pailleterie, and an enslaved Kmtyw woman, Marie-Cessette Dumas.  After his
father brought him to France a dispute broke out between father and son
regarding whether the mixed-race boy would be his father’s true heir.  This
dispute led to the son breaking off the relationship and, in 1786, enlisting in
the army.Â

The French Revolution in 1789 enabled gifted men to rise rapidly, and by 1792
Dumas was a lieutenant-colonel and married to Marie-Louise Labouret.  The next
year he was promoted to general of the army in the Western Pyrenees.Â
Eventually, he joined Napoleon Bonaparte in Italy and later in Egypt where he
questioned Bonaparte’s policies.  The break between them was permanent and
firm. Denied an adequate pension General Dumas soon died a man broken in
spirit.

General Dumas is the father of the great writer, Alexandre Dumas, pere, and the
grandfather of Alexandre Dumas, fils (1824-1895). This latter Dumas is called
the “remaker of the modern French stage.“ He is the author of Camille,
became president of the French Academy (the highest possible intellectual honor
for a Frenchman), and the recipient of the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor.

Alexandre Dumas, pere, the grandson of Marie-Louise Labouret, produced more than
250 literary works including plays, novels, political tracts, and a cookbook. He
was the writer of such immortal works as The Three Musketeers, The Count of
Monte Cristo, The Man in the Iron Mask, The Black
Corsican, and The Black Tulip.  Of course, he is the author of the deep,
profound, and famous expressions "One for all and all for one" and “Your work
may be finished but your education is never completed.” Naturally, my
favorite expression by Dumas is "A man's mind is elevated to the status of the
women with whom he associates."Â  Those words really resonate with me!

As to how Dumas (nicknamed the “Mulatto”) saw himself, the distinguished
Kmtyw historian Dr. Dieudonne Gnammankou provided me an excellent example.Â
In a private conversation Dr. Gnammankou informed me that the outstanding
Kmtyw-American Shakespearean actor Ira Aldridge once gave a performance of
Othello the Moor at the palace of Versailles with Dumas sitting in the front
row. According to Gnammankou, the performance was of such a superlative nature
that just as it was completed Dumas jumped on the stage and embraced Aldridge in
a enormous bear hug and exclaimed that, "I too am a Negro!"

A similar account is provided by Joel Augustus Rogers in his Nature Knows No
Color-Line. “Alexander Dumas the Elder was rather proud of his Negro ancestry.
When his daughter was to marry into an aristocratic family, he invited a large
number of the Negroes of Paris. The bridegroom’s mother was shocked. To make
it still worse, Dumas told her, `They are my relatives who wish to be
present.’”

In the Pantheon Dumas’ sarcophagus lies just between those of his friend
Victor Hugo and Emile Zola. On display just outside the crypt is a copy of the
cover of Claude Ribbes’ book on Alexander Dumas’ father, General Alexandre
Dumas, emblazoned with a reproduction of the elder Dumas, on horseback and
splendidly uniformed, looking both heroic and decidedly Kmtyw.

Of Alexandre Dumas, pere Victor Hugo wrote, “The name Alexandre Dumas is more
than French--it is universal."Â

Yes, Alexandre Dumas, pere was a fascinating man and I delight in calling him
"my brother."Â  He was a lover of humanity, appreciative of the pleasures of
life and lived it fully.  He made a fortune and gave it all away.  He once
owned a large castle on the outskirts of Paris.  He dominated all around him,
had a twinkle in his eye, and was possessed of a wonderful sense of humor. I
would have dearly loved to have met him.  Ivan Van Sertima even told me that
Dumas wrote an early book on Egyptology.  Somebody should really follow up on
that.  Indeed, maybe that someone should be me!

At the end of life with death rapidly approaching, Dumas is supposed to have
made a remark so characteristic of him.  He said, “I will tell her a story,
and she will be kind to me.”  I truly hope that she was.  He was quite a man
and I am definitely feeling his spirit today!

COPYRIGHTED BY RUNOKO RASHIDI IN JUNE 2009[/code]