A humble black slave, Marie Cesette Dumas, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother to three distinguished men: Thomas-Álexandre Dumas, the son she had with the Marquis “de La Pailleterie”, a French nobleman in the colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), who became, because of his exceptional strength and bravery General in Napoleon’s army ; Alexandre Dumas, her grandson, the author of “The Three Musketeers” and “The Count of Monte Cristo”; and Alexandre Dumas (son), her great-grandson, who wrote just as famous novels like “ The Lady of The Camellias”.

All we know about Marie-Cesette is that she seemed to have died of dysentery when Thomas-Alexandre was twelve years old. Nevertheless Alexandre Dumas (son) tried in vain to find her roots in Haiti.

According to Calixthe Beyala, from Cameroon, author of “Lost Honours” (This novel received 1996 prestigious Prix du roman de l'Accadémie Française) or “Mother has a Lover” , Mari-Cesette Dumas came from Gabón—a country in Eastern Africa, west of Somalia bordering Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea--- and her last name “Dumas” , initially “Dûma”, originates from the ethnic group, of that area, called Fang, which means “dignity”.

Others believe that the surname Dumas originated from the slave traders that captured her and yet some others affirm that it came from her working in a farm, since Dumas proceeds from “du Mas” that means “from the farm”. The future General Dumas whom the Austrians called “the black devil” because of his courage, was to join the army using his mother’s surname, because of his own personal wish or because of paternal imposition.

Alexandre Dumas, who suffered contempt because of the colour of his skin, did not leave behind an autobiography or any other writings on his grandmother. Nevertheless there is a novel, a shorter work but perhaps one of the most personal ones he wrote, and in which perhaps, hidden key elements can be found to understand better his condition of mixed-race : “Georges” (1843), narrates the humiliations and revenge of a mulatto, that like his father General Dumas, is born in an island, (Mauritius in the novel) to be educated in France, and then returns as a leader, to avenge himself for the affronts he had suffered as a boy, producing a revolt. ( such as that which happened in Haiti).

There are many more elements in the plot that could be unfolded, but the art of telling them in an attractive and interesting manner, belong to that “enormous and agile architect” as Victor Hugo said. To reveal much more would be to undress that which is of vital importance in his works: The action that keeps us in suspense. Therefore I would only like to highlight one more element about this novel in particular. It could be that he had in mind possibly, the sad destiny of his grandmother (Marie-Cesette) when one of his characters (Nazim), who just like her is uprooted from her homeland, feels that she can hear her dead mother calling her from far off, in her birth land, personified in the song of a nightingale.

“The stout black” was the nickname used by rivals and those jealous of his success, when referring to Alexandre Dumas. Once someone tried to insult him because of his black ancestry, but his clever reply was, “ you are in the certain. My father was a mulatto, my grandmother black, my grandparents apes. Summing up sir, my pedigree starts, where yours ends”.

Alejandro Dumas son was also stigmatized by his school mates, not just because of being the son of a single woman but also because of his black blood, this of course influenced his works.
I have considered that this small fragment of the life of the Dumas’, that we may not know or are not aware of, and that can not be explained without Marie-Cesette Dumas, could be of interest to all of us that have had the privilege of meeting, through their history or their literature, at least one of them.