Famous people named Dumas

Three generations of Dumas

The most famous Dumas story begins with Thomas-Alexandre Dumas (1762–1806), born in Saint-Domingue to a French nobleman and an enslaved woman, who rose to general in the armies of the French Revolution. His son Alexandre Dumas père (1802–1870) wrote The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, and his grandson Alexandre Dumas fils (1824–1895) wrote The Lady of the Camellias, the source of Verdi's La traviata.

Science and exploration

• Jean-Baptiste Dumas (1800–1884), chemist known for work on atomic weights and organic analysis.
• Frédéric Dumas (1913–1991), one of Jacques-Yves Cousteau's first two diving companions.
• Gustave Dumas (1872–1955), Swiss mathematician.
• Georges Dumas (1866–1946), physician and psychologist.

Beyond the novelists

The Dumas name also turns up far from Paris. Pierre Benoît Dumas (1668–1745) governed French Pondicherry in India and the island of Réunion. In Australia, the engineer Russell Dumas (1887–1975) built dams and public works in Western Australia, and in the United States Henry Dumas (1934–1968) wrote poetry and fiction admired by Toni Morrison, who edited his work after his early death. On television, French journalist Mireille Dumas (born 1953) is known for her long-running interview programmes.

Art, business and sport

• Marlene Dumas (born 1953), South African painter whose work hangs in major museums.
• Axel Dumas (born 1970), chief executive of Hermès.
• Roland Dumas (1922–2024), French foreign minister in the 1980s and 1990s.
• Vito Dumas (1900–1965), Argentine sailor who circumnavigated the Southern Ocean single-handed.
• Romain Dumas (born 1977), racing driver and Le Mans winner.

These Dumas families are mostly unrelated: the name, from Occitan mas, a farmstead, formed in many southern French parishes. That is also why there is no single crest for everyone named Dumas. See our Dumas coat of arms and meaning page, or start tracing your own line with Dumas family history and genealogy.