The Count of Monte Cristo Author Was Black

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]Did you know France's greatest novelist [music] was the grandson of a Haitian slave? Alexandre Dumas wrote The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, but most people don't [music] know he was mixed race. His grandmother was enslaved in Haiti before his grandfather brought her to France.

[00:00:15]Despite [music] becoming the most celebrated writer in French history, Dumas faced brutal racism every single day. Critics called him "the negro" in [music] newspapers. They questioned whether someone of African descent could possibly be intelligent enough to [music] write such masterpieces. Imagine creating legendary heroes like d'Artagnan and Edmond Dantès while society constantly told [music] you that you weren't good enough because of your skin color. Dumas sold more books than any French [music] author, yet wealthy Parisians whispered behind his back at every social gathering. His novels were filled with swashbuckling adventures [music] and daring escapes, but his real-life battle was against the nation that couldn't accept a black man as their literary genius.

[00:00:55]>> [music] >> While his characters fought with swords, Dumas fought with his pen against racism that tried to erase his brilliance. The man who gave us some of literature's [music] greatest heroes was himself a hero fighting prejudice.