Jules Gabriel Verne was a French writer. He was born in Nantes, in 1828. His father was a sailor and traveled very often. Together with H.G. Wells, Verne is said to be the founder of science fiction.
When Jules was a child, he wanted to become a sailor. He escaped from his parents and wanted to become a cabin boy on a ship. But before the ship started, his parents found him and took him back home. As he was 19 years old, he went to Paris and began to study law. He lived by his uncle in Paris and there he mat many famous writers. He started to write and publish his own plays soon after. He had great admiration for Alexander Dumas and Victor Hugo. He loved theater and watched all plays, which were performed in the city. In 1950, the first play by Verne was performed in one of the theatres. As he had no interest for law, Jules decided to quit his education, which drove his father mad. The father decided not to give his son any more money, if he was not going to become a lawyer. Jules had to make the living on his own so he started to sell, what he wrote.
In Parisian libraries, Verne would study astronomy, geology and engineering. In 1851 he published the first of his novels- 'Five Weeks in a Balloon'. Reading it, one can notice strong influence of E.A. Poe's stories.
The books written by Jules found readers among the teenagers as well as adults. They create the great picture of the 19th century's atmosphere- the total admiration of science and different inventions. Many of his novels are considered travel books. They make the reader travel to the moon ('From the Earth to the Moon') or to some strange dimension ('A Journey to the Center of the Earth'). Verne introduced many prophetic ideas in his works. The best known book by Verne is 'Around the World in Eighty Days' (1873), admired by readers all around the world.
Another famous book by Verne is 'Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea'. It tells the story about Capitan Nemo and Nautilus- his submarine. Capitan Nemo is considered to be the ancestor of contemporary superheroes in our culture. The book 'Mysterious Island' shows the situation of workers, whose emplyer takes advantage of them. Verne's novels are adventurous and scientific at the same time.
In the relatively short period of time, Jules' works became very popular. The writer was neither a traveler nor a scientist, but reading his books, it is hard to believe that. He would always dedicate much time to educate himself as well as possible. Although his novels are fiction, he did his best to make them seem realistic.
At the age of 28, Verne married Honorine de Viane and adopted her two children. They lived on the countryside in a big house. From time to time, Jules Yachted on the sea. He became interested in life of Prince Pyotr Kropotkin, who was the famous anarchist, dedicating his life to revolution. In the book 'Johnatan', we may notice the influence of Verne's admiration to him and, what seems more important, to socialistic ideas.
As Jules' books were read by numerous readers, the writer became very rich. He owned his own big yacht and he used to sail around the continent. The last novel written by Verne was 'The Invasion of the Sea'.
In his whole life, he wrote 65 novels, about 20 short stories, numerous essays, 31 plays, few works on geography and some opera librettos. He died on 24th March, 1905 in Amiens.
