Jules Verne

Jules Verne

Going to moon, a balloon trip around the world, adventure under the sea, all this in the late 1800s? All this was possible in the writings of Jules Verne. Jules Verne was born in Nantes on February 8, 1828. He had a vivid imagination and as a child, he often sailed down the Loire River with his brother. He always wondered about air and undersea travel. In the 1800s, none of these advances were discovered.

His father was a lawyer and wanted young Verne to be one, too. Jules was sent to Paris to study law and while he was there, he became interested in literature. He graduated with a degree in law in 1850. Jules began to write and give private law lessons in Paris. His father voiced some concern in pursuing literature as well as law.

When Jules was in his young 20s, he wrote operettas librettos for about 2 years while continuing to practice law. He was appointed as the Secretary of the Theatre Lyrique in Paris. He made some letters to his mother commenting on his shabby clothes compared to the clothes poets there. He started to become a very busy people.

Verne was married on January 10, 1857 to Honorine de Viane. He only had 1 child, a boy named Michel, who was born on August 3, 1861. Verne also had 2 stepdaughters, Valentine, and Suzanne. Michel grew up to be a very disobedient child. Verne tried many means of stopping this delinquency. He put Michel in jail in an attempt to stop the 'madness'. He was really unhappy over his son's behavior problem. Late 1879, Verne ended up throwing Michel out of the house. Michel ran off and married an actress. In 1887, he attended and recognized Michel's second marriage which helped...