Jules Verne

Jules Verne was born on a small island within Nantes, France. He grew up there with his father (an attorney and devout Catholic), mother, and four younger siblings. At age six, Verne was sent to boarding school in Nantes and at eight went on to Catholic school. He excelled at geography from an early age and was especially interested in sailing, becoming a cabin boy on a ship at age eleven. As an adult, he moved to Paris, where his father expected him to follow in his footsteps and become a lawyer, but Verne was more interested in writing poetry and plays. He frequented saloons where he met Alexandre Dumas and became a close friend and collaborator with his son. Verne began to write short stories that were both entertaining and educational about geography and science, and which were published serially in magazines. As he gained popularity and made contact with a well-known French publisher, Verne’s works began to be collected in a heavily-researched adventure novel sequence called the Voyages Extraorindaires. Around the World in Eighty Days is a part of this collection. Though Verne's works were initially considered children's literature, his reputation changed as he gained popularity and he is now regarded as an important predecessor of French avant-garde and surrealist literature. He is currently the second-most translated author in the world, second only to William Shakespeare.