Alexandre Dumas fils 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 opera "La traviata" ("The Fallen Woman"), as well as numerous stage and film productions, usually titled "Camille" in English-language versions. Dumas (French for 'son') was the son of Alexandre Dumas ('father'), also a well-known playwright and author of classic works such as "The Three Musketeers". Dumas was admitted to the (French Academy) in 1874 and awarded the
Giuseppe Verdi the death of his mother in June 1851. The fact that this is "the one opera of Verdi's which focuses on a mother rather than a father" is perhaps related to her death. In the winter of 1851–52 Verdi decided to go to Paris with Strepponi, where he concluded an agreement with the Opéra to write what became "Les vêpres siciliennes", his first original work in the style of grand opera. In February 1852, the couple attended a performance of Alexander Dumas "fils"'s play, "The Lady of the Camellias"; Verdi immediately began to compose music for what would later become