The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo Thomas-Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie, was born in Jérémie, Saint-Domingue (Haiti) in 1762, the son of the Marquis and Marie-Cessette Dumas, his Haitian slave. In addition to being the father of French novelist Alexandre Dumas, he was the grandfather of playwright Alexandre Dumas, known for "La Dame aux Camélias", the source for Giuseppe Verdi's "La traviata". Dumas was born the son of a renegade French nobleman and his black slave in 1762 in the French sugar colony of Saint Domingue (the future Haiti); at the time of his birth, his father was living on the run from the royal authorities
Alexandre aux Indes Alexandre aux Indes Alexandre aux Indes ("Alexander in India") is an opera by the French composer Nicolas-Jean Lefroid de Méreaux, first performed at the Académie Royale de Musique (the Paris Opera) on 26 August 1783. It takes the form of a "tragédie lyrique" in three acts. The libretto, by Étienne Morel de Chédeville, concerns Alexander the Great and the Indian king Porus. The plot has similarities with Racine's tragedy "Alexandre le Grand" (1665) and Metastasio's libretto "Alessandro nell'Indie". King Porus is due to marry Axiane when he hears news that Alexander the Great is threatening his kingdom. Hephaestion arrives and