Jules Verne

Jules Gabriel Verne was born in Nantes in February 1828 and died in Amiens in the spring of 1905. These dates outline a life that spanned almost an entire century of technical and scientific upheavals, a century where steam transformed distances, where electricity began to illuminate cities, and where the maps of the world were finally filled in. This era of endless possibilities found its most inspired bard in him, the man who knew how to turn the promises of science into thrilling adventures.

The young man from Nantes entered the Collège Saint-Stanislas, earned his baccalaureate in Rennes, and was then sent to Paris by his father to study law. But in the capital, his imagination turned toward other horizons. The decisive moment came with the publication of Five Weeks in a Balloon: its literary success was immediate, and Verne found his calling. This first novel launched the series of Extraordinary Voyages that would bring him glory and transform the literary landscape of his time.

From the Earth to the Moon, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in Eighty Days, Michael Strogoff, The Children of Captain Grant, The Southern Star, Robur the Conqueror: each title is an invitation to set off, a promise of wonder. Verne invented a genre where documentary rigor fuels dreams, where ballistic calculations sit alongside storms at sea, and where technical descriptions serve as a springboard for the imagination. His heroes sail the oceans, plunge beneath the waters, soar toward the moon, and cross continents with an unshakable faith in human progress.

This prolific body of work enjoys an exceptional global reach. The Index Translationum ranks him as the second most translated author in foreign languages: his novels travel across all languages just as his characters travel across all continents. This universality stems from what he managed to capture: an era's drive toward the unknown, the thirst for discovery that drives humanity, and the delicious vertigo of pushing the boundaries of the possible ever further.

A century after his death, as France declared the centenary year the "Jules Verne Year," his work continues to speak to us. Not merely as a testament to a bygone era, but as a timeless celebration of human curiosity. In a world that has realized so many of his wildest dreams—and sometimes surpassed them—his novels keep their power of enchantment intact. They remind us of that precious moment when everything still seemed waiting to be discovered, when every invention opened up new worlds, and when adventure began at the turn of every page.

Bibliography

• Vingt mille lieues sous les mersExplored
• Five Weeks in a Balloon1863
• The Adventures of Captain Hatteras
• From the Earth to the Moon1865
• The Children of Captain Grant1868
• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea1870
• Around the World in Eighty Days1873
• Michael Strogoff1876
• The Southern Star1884
• Robur the Conqueror1886

In the library

• Vingt mille lieues sous les mersPublished on Saturday, 15 August 2026