Jules Verne Project

8/13/2019 Jules Verne Project

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Jules Verne was an amazing

writer who predicted the science future

of the world. Some of the inventions he

imagined were created later in his

lifetime, but some are still to be

invented. He was popular with all kindsof readers: rich, poor, young, old,

scientists, artists and rulers. He wrote

over 80 books mostly before 1900 and a

few of the things he described were:helicopters, modern weapons, movies

with sound, television and rockets.


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Early Years

Jules Gabriel Verne was born on February 8, 1828 in Nantes,

France. He was the oldest of five children. He had three sisters:

Mathilde, Anna and Marie, and one younger brother Paul. His fatherwas a lawyer and, much like the hero of Around the World in Eighty

Days, he was precise about everything. He was known for his honesty.

His mother, Sophie Allotte, came from a family of ship builders and sea

captains.

Jules Verne Museum


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A Writing Career Begins

Jules's father wanted him to be

educated as a lawyer, but he refused to do

any work but writing. In 1848 he and a

friend went to Paris. His father gave Jules

money to support himself because he wassupposed to be studying law. What Jules

really wanted to do was sell his

manuscripts and plays . His father came to

Paris to check on him and stopped payinghis allowance when he discovered that

Jules was just writing.


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Verne was forced tosupport himself as astockbroker, which he hateddespite being somewhat

successful at it. During thisperiod, he met Victor Hugoand Alexandre Dumas, whooffered him writing advice.

Verne's situation improved

when he met Pierre-Jules Hetzel,

one of the more important French

publishers of the 19th century, whoalso published Victor Hugo, George

Sand, and Erckmann-Chatrian,

among others. They formed an

excellent writer-publisher team.


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Verne also met Honorine deViane Morel, a widow with two

daughters. They were married on

January 10, 1857. With her

encouragement, he continued to

write and actively looked for a

publisher. On August 3, 1861,

their son, Michel Verne was born.

Michel married an actress over

Verne's objections, had two

children by an underage mistress,

and buried himself in debts. The

relationship between father andson improved as Michel grew

older.

Michel Verne

Honorine de

Viane Morel


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From that point, Vernepublished two or more volumes a

year. The most successful of theseare:

Voyage au centre de la Terre(Journey to the Center of the Earth,1864);

De la Terre la Lune (From

the Earth to the Moon, 1865);Vingt mille lieues sous les mers(Twenty Thousand Leagues Underthe Sea, 1869);

Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours (Around the World inEighty Days), which first appeared

in Le Temps in 1872.The series is collectively

known as the VoyagesExtraordinaires ("extraordinaryvoyages").


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Later Years

Jules Verne took upresidence in Amiens in 1871.

Jules Verne stayedprolific throughout the 1870s,writing The Adventures of aSpecial Correspondent (1872),

The Survivors of theChancellor (1875), MichaelStrogoff (1876), and DickSand: A Captain at Fifteen(1878), among several others.After Verne's long run with

personal and professionalsuccess, however, he wouldfind the 1880s to be less kind.


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In 1886, Verne's favoritenephew, Gaston, attempted tomurder Verne. He fired twoshots from a pistol, and onestuck Verne's shin, giving him

a limp for the rest of his life.Gaston turned out to besufferring from mental illness,and spent his life in a mentalinstitution. A week after Vernewas shot, Jules Hetzel died an

event that devastated theauthor. To add to his misery,Verne's mother died thefollowing year.

Jules Hetzel


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He was later elected

city councilman in 1888.

In 1889, Jules Verne

presided over the opening

of the Amiens circus,

including a courthouse, a

police station and a

museum dedicated to thehistory of Picardy.


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In 1905, while ill with diabetes, Verne died

at his home in Amiens, France and was buried

in La Madeleine Cemetery in Amiens.


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In 1863, Jules Verne wrote a novel

called Parisin the Twentieth Century

about a young man who lives in a world

of glass skyscrapers, high-speed trains,gaspowered automobiles, calculators,

and a worldwide communications

network, yet cannot find happiness and

comes to a tragic end.

Hetzel thought the novel's pessimism

would damage Verne's then-booming

career, and suggested he wait 20 years to

publish it. Verne put the manuscript in a

safe, where it was discovered by hisgreat-grandson in 1989.

It was published in 1994.


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Nowadays, many places in Amiens are named after Jules

Verne. "Universit Jules Verne, Jules Verne Boulevard, Maison

Jules Verne, Muse Jules Verne, Jules Verne Cirque. Also, there are

many statues of Jules Verne scattered in Amiens.

Jules Verne Monument Jules Verne house in Amiens


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Documents

Jules Verne Project