Dumas, Alexandre

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Dumas, Alexandre (1824–95) (fils) French dramatist and novelist, illegitimate son of Alexandre Dumas (père). His work stands in stark contrast to his father's exuberant historical romances. His first great success was La Dame aux Camélias (1852), which forms the basis of Verdi's opera La Traviata. His didactic later plays, such as Les idées de Madame Aubray (1867), helped to provoke French social reform.

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