12 questions · Literature
Jules Verne, born in 1828 in the port city of Nantes, was meant to become a lawyer like his father: but the boy was drawn to the ships in the harbour and the wonders of science. In Paris the law student preferred meeting Dumas and the literary crowd, wrote plays and devoured scientific reports. In 1862 he found his congenial partner in the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel: their collaboration produced, over four decades, the roughly 60 volumes of the 'Extraordinary Voyages' and a new genre. The successes came thick and fast: 'Five Weeks in a Balloon' over Africa, the 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' through the crater of Snæfellsjökull, 'From the Earth to the Moon': fired from a giant cannon in Florida, astonishingly close to the later Apollo launch sites. In 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas' (1870) Verne created his most famous character: Captain Nemo, the mysterious master of the submarine Nautilus, decades ahead of its time. And 'Around the World in Eighty Days' sent the imperturbable gentleman Phileas Fogg with his valet Passepartout on his wager journey: half of Europe followed the serialisation breathlessly, and reporters like Nellie Bly later tried to beat the journey for real. Verne meticulously researched the science of his day and extrapolated it so boldly that much later became reality: submarines, moon travel, helicopters, electric cities. With H. G. Wells he therefore counts as a father of science fiction; by UNESCO's statistics he remains among the most translated authors in the world. He died in Amiens in 1905. Did you know that his darkly prophetic novel 'Paris in the Twentieth Century' was rejected by his publisher and only rediscovered in a family safe and published in 1994?
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science fiction
He meticulously researched the science of his day and extrapolated it boldly into the future.
💡 Did you know? Writing in the 19th century, Verne described submarines, space travel and video calls with astonishing accuracy.
Captain Nemo
'Nemo' is Latin for 'nobody': an allusion to Odysseus' ruse with the Cyclops.
💡 Did you know? “Nemo” is Latin for “Nobody”: the same disguise Odysseus used with the Cyclops.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas
Published in 1870: the submarine was decades ahead of its time.
💡 Did you know? The 20,000 leagues refer to the distance travelled underwater, not the depth: a common misreading of the title.
Phileas Fogg
With his valet Passepartout: half of Europe followed the serialisation breathlessly.
💡 Did you know? Fogg wins his wager thanks to the date line: travelling east “gives” him an extra day.
with a cannon
Astonishingly close to the later Apollo launch sites: even the crew size matched.
💡 Did you know? Verne chose Florida as the launch site: about 100 years before the real Apollo missions lifted off there.
Snæfellsjökull
'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' (1864) (the exit): Stromboli in Italy.
💡 Did you know? A real, still-active volcano in Iceland serves Verne as the fictional entrance to the Earth's interior.
Extraordinary Voyages
Four decades of collaboration: Hetzel made Verne a world author.
💡 Did you know? Publisher Hetzel issued the novels as lavish gift editions: they made Verne the most translated French author.
submarines and moon travel
No magic: he meticulously extrapolated the technology of his day.
💡 Did you know? By UNESCO's statistics, Verne remains among the most translated authors in the world.
Paris in the Twentieth Century
Publisher Hetzel had rejected the dystopia as too pessimistic: it describes cars, fax machines and computer-like devices.
💡 Did you know? The bleakly prophetic 1863 novel was deemed too pessimistic by Hetzel and stayed unpublished for 130 years.
Nantes
The ships in the harbour woke his wanderlust: he died in Amiens in 1905.
💡 Did you know? The young Verne supposedly tried to run away as a cabin boy: his father caught him at the last moment.
Nellie Bly
She needed 72 days and visited Verne in Amiens on the way.
💡 Did you know? Reporter Nellie Bly circled the globe in 1889/90 in 72 days and even met Jules Verne in person along the way.
Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Jules Verne
Jules Verne (1828 to 1905) was a French writer and one of the founders of science fiction. His “Extraordinary Voyages” have thrilled readers of all ages for over 150 years.
💡 Did you know? Verne remains one of the most translated authors in the world: ahead of both Shakespeare and Agatha Christie.
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