The Alexandre Dumas Museum (french: Musée Alexandre Dumas, italic=no) opened in 1905 in

Villers-Cotterêts Villers-Cotterêts () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France, France. It is notable as the signing-place in 1539 of the '' Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts'' discontinuing the use of Latin in official French documents, and as ...

in the commune of Aisne, France, where Thomas-Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie, father of the writer Alexandre Dumas and grandfather of

Alexandre Dumas fils Alexandre Dumas (; 27 July 1824 – 27 November 1895) was a French author and playwright, best known for the romantic novel '' La Dame aux Camélias'' (''The Lady of the Camellias''), published in 1848, which was adapted into Giuseppe Verdi's ...

academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. In syst ...

, died in 1806. The museum was named a

Musée de France Museum of France (''Musée de France'') is a title given to the main state museums in France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and ter ...

in 2002. The museum is one of the various sites in the city which recall the link between

and the Dumas family: the royal château François 1er, the Saint-Nicolas church, the town hall, the Hôtel de l'Épée, the Abbé-Grégoire college or the family house.

History

It was in 1902, on the occasion of the centenary of Alexandre Dumas's birth in the city that the municipality decided to gather and display all the memories linked to the Dumas family in the city. The creation and management of this project were given to the Regional Historical Society of Villers-Cotterêts. The museum then opened in 1905. at 13 rue Demoustier. During years, the museum is growing and moving. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, in order to protect the collections from the war, it was moved to

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

. In 1932, the museum reopened at the Dauphin Hotel. It is also the year of the creation of the Alexandre Dumas Friends Society to support and develop the museum. In 1952, the museum moved to a 19th century mansion that served as General Maunoury's headquarters during the First World War. The museum has three rooms, each of them dedicated to one of the family members: Alexandre Dumas (1762-1806).JPG, Thomas Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas 1.jpg, Alexandre Dumas père ADumas hijo 00.jpg, Alexandre Dumas fils

Collections

The museum collections evoke the three Dumas, the general born in the

Antilles The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...

and a slave, the author of the

Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' (french: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an adventure novel written by French author Alexandre Dumas (''père'') completed in 1844. It is one of the author's more popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers''. L ...

and the academician. They bring together numerous portraits, personal objects, documents written by the Dumas family. Numerous manuscripts by Dumas Père adorn the museum: travel accounts, drafts of novels, children's stories, his memoirs, etc.Page du musée sur le site de l'association des conservateurs de musées des Hauts de France
/ref> The museum also hosts many art pieces on the three men signed by famous artists:

Louis Boulanger Louis Candide Boulanger (1806 – 1867) was a French Romantic painter, pastellist, lithographer and a poet, known for his religious and allegorical subjects, portraits, genre scenes. Life Boulanger was born in Piedmont where his father, Fran ...

, Eugène Giraud,

Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (born Albert-Ernest Carrier de Belleuse; 12 June 1824 – 4 June 1887) was a French sculptor. He was one of the founding members of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, and was made an officer of the Legion of H ...

, Jules Franceschi, Edouard Dubufe, Jules Lefèvre, Jules Machard, Alphonse de Moncel, etc. The museum organizes activities around events, museum nights, themed evenings, temporary exhibitions, etc.

Pictures

Alexandre Dumas et Miss Menken (RV) (cropped).png, Alexandre Dumas and Miss Menken Alexandre Dumas père et Ada Menken debout.png, Alexandre Dumas and Miss Menken Colett Dumas.jpg, Colette Dumas Jeannine d'Hauterive née Dumas.jpg, Jeannine d'Hauterive, Dumas' daughter Marie Joséphine Nicolas - Avant la parade.jpg, Marie Joséphine Nicolas Marie Joséphine Nicolas - Autoportrait.jpg, Marie Joséphine Nicolas Marie Joséphine Nicolas - Jeux d'enfants.jpg, Marie Joséphine Nicolas Marie Nicolas - Self-portrait.jpg, Marie Nicolas

References

External links

Museum collection on French officialmuseums database

Museum page on Musenor website

Office du soissonnais

Actualité Littéraire article
{{authority control Alexandre Dumas Museums in Aisne