Jules Verne (1828-1905)


Portrait of Jules Verne

Jules Gabriel Verne was born on February 8, 1828, in France. His parents were of a seafaring tradition, a factor that influenced his writings. As a boy, Jules Verne ran off to be a cabin boy on a merchant ship, but he was caught and returned to his parents. In 1847 Jules was sent to study law in Paris. While there, however, his passion for the theatre grew. Later in 1850, Jules Verne's first play was published. His father was outraged when he heard that Jules was not going to continue law, so he discontinued the money he was giving him to pay for his expenses in Paris. This forced Verne to make money by selling his stories.

After spending many hours in Paris libraries studying geology, engineering, and astronomy, Jules Verne published his first novel Five Weeks in a Balloon(1863). Soon he started writing novels such as Journey to the Centre of the Earth(1864), From the Earth to the Moon(1866), and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea(1870 ) and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873).

Because of the popularity of these and other novels, Jules Verne became a very rich man. In 1876, he bought a large yacht and sailed around Europe. Jules Verne died in 1905.

Check that you understand what these words mean in this document
To be of seafaring tradition: to be related to a job that has to do with the sea e.g. sailor.
Merchant ship: a boat that carries goods and sells them in foreign countries.
Outraged: very angry.
Yacht: sailing boat.