Julie Vers biography. Jules Verne biography

Jules Verne (1828-1905), French science fiction writer.

Born February 8, 1828 in Nantes. The son of a lawyer and a lawyer himself. He began to print in 1849. At first he acted as a playwright, but his plays did not enjoy success.

Glory to Verne brought the first novel "Five Weeks in a Balloon", which was published at the end of 1862 (although dated 1863).

Verne turned out to be an unusually prolific writer - he created 65 novels of science fiction and adventure-geographical nature. Sometimes he wrote satirical works, ridiculing contemporary French bourgeois society, but they succeeded much less and did not bring fame to the author. He was truly famous for Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), Captain Grant's Children (1867-1868), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1869-1870), Around the World for 80 days" (1872), "The Mysterious Island" (1875), "The Fifteen-Year-Old Captain" (1878). These novels have been translated into many languages ​​and read with interest all over the world.

It is curious that the author of travel books himself did not make a single long journey and wrote based not on experience, but on knowledge and (mostly) on his own imagination. Jules Verne often made rather blunders. For example, in his novels one can find a statement about the existence of museums where octopus skeletons are exhibited; meanwhile, the octopus is an invertebrate animal. However, the entertaining stories of Jules Verne atoned for such flaws in the eyes of readers.

The writer adhered to democratic convictions, corresponded with utopian socialists, and in 1871 supported the Paris Commune.

Promoting science, he warned more than once about the danger of using its achievements for military purposes. It was Verne who became the first creator of the image of a mad scientist dreaming of world domination (“500 million Begums”, 1879; “Lord of the World”, 1904). Later, fiction has resorted to characters of this kind more than once. In addition to fiction, Verne wrote popular books on geography and the history of geographical research.

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Biography, life story of Jules Verne

On February 8, 1828, in the French Nantes, a boy was born into the family of a lawyer, whose name Jules-Gabriel Verne became universally known far beyond the borders of France. The father of the future member of the French Geographical Society, the founder of science fiction, as well as the author of 66 novels, 30 plays, 20 novels and short stories, was the lawyer Pierre Verne. Since the family owned a law office, the father reasonably assumed that Jules, as befits an older child, would eventually become at his "helm". The mother of the newborn, nee Allotte de la Fuye, came from a very ancient family of shipbuilders and shipowners, many generations of whom lived and worked in Nantes, which for centuries has been one of the largest ports in France.

The romance of the port city could not help but influence the boy's attitude. Young Jules from early childhood was attracted by sailboats and travel to distant lands. In 1839, an 11-year-old boy made an attempt to make his dream a reality by hiring as a cabin boy on the schooner "Korali", going to India. Fortunately, the father managed to protect his son from a rash act.

According to his father's ideas, Jules was supposed to become a lawyer, which happened when he graduated from the Paris School of Law. But, having received a diploma in 1849, Jules Verne chose to devote himself entirely to literature and theater, remaining in Paris. By this, he doomed himself to a half-starved existence, since this decision was not to the liking of his father. However, this did not prevent Jules from enthusiastically mastering a new field for himself, writing various literary works, ranging from comedies to opera librettos.

Intuition led the novice writer to the National Library, where, listening to lectures and scientific reports, he picked up a lot of interesting information on geography, navigation, astronomy, although he had little idea what he needed it for. However, in 1851 the first creation with historical and geographical content was published - the story "The First Ships of the Mexican Navy". This work made a great impression on Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo, who began to patronize Jules Verne. It is believed that it was Dumas who advised the young protégé to write adventure stories. However, Jules Verne, as always, acted in his own way, deciding to describe the entire globe, from nature to the customs of the peoples, combining science and art in his novels.

CONTINUED BELOW

Since the implementation of this idea required a very long time, in 1862 Jules Verne broke with the theater, which allowed him to complete his first adventure novel, 5 Weeks in a Balloon. On the advice of Dumas, Jules turned to the Journal of Education and Entertainment, where this novel was published. The first cooperation with the magazine turned out to be so successful that its publisher Pierre-Jules Etzel, seeing in the new author the talent of a writer of the "adventure" genre, concluded a contract with Jules Verne for 20 years. According to its terms, the writer was obliged to publish 2 novels a year. This required great effort, but at the same time ensured prosperity in the family of Jules Verne, who married in 1857. His chosen one was the widow Honorina de Vian, who by the time of her new marriage had two children. In 1961, they had their first and only common child - son Michel.

Further, as if trying to make up for lost time in his youth, a number of masterpiece works come out from the writer's pen. In 1864, "Journey to the Center of the Earth" was published, in 1865 - "Journey of Captain Hatteras" and "From the Earth to the Moon".

After finishing The Children of Captain Grant in 1868, Jules Verne decided to combine his previously written works with future books. The result of this decision was the trilogy "Extraordinary Journeys", which, in addition to "The Children of Captain Grant", included "20 Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" and "The Mysterious Island", published in 1870 and 1875 respectively.

By 1872, Jules Verne was finally fed up with the hustle and bustle of the big city. The new place of residence was the provincial Amiens, located near Paris. Since that time, his life has been reduced exclusively to literary creativity. According to biographers, the writer spent 15 hours a day at his desk. The practical result of this diligence was the extraordinarily successful novel Around the World in 80 Days.

In 1878, another world-famous adventure work, The 15-Year-Old Captain, was published, the theme of which - racial discrimination - was continued in the next novel, North against South, published shortly after the end of the American Civil War in 1887.

Jules Verne's life ended on April 24, 1905 in Amiens. The cause of death was diabetes. As a legacy to his descendants, he left numerous works that today are able to give an exciting pastime.

One of the greatest French writers of the 19th century, the author of the immortal "Around the World in 80 Days", "The Children of Captain Grant", "The Fifteen-Year-Old Captain", "The Mysterious Island" Jules Verne became popular as an outstanding novelist only at the age of 36. Before that, he had to spend a long time in the backyard of literature: editing other people's works, writing commissioned plays, short articles and dreaming, sitting at a table in Montmarte, about his own books and reader recognition.

And at the beginning of his literary career, and already being a venerable writer, Jules Verne got up every day at five in the morning. He drank a cup of excellent black coffee and sat down at his desk, laid out his file cabinets and began to write.

Jules Verne's file cabinets were self-made notebooks that he kept throughout his life. In this impromptu encyclopedia, Vern entered the facts that interested him, terms from various branches of science (physics, chemistry, geography), the names of researchers, travelers, extraordinary incidents. Memory, the writer argued, is an imperfect tool. Vern's file cabinets became his faithful assistants in the creation of adventure novels.

At the desk, Jules Verne forgot about the house, everyday bustle and was carried away with his heroes to the distant distances that they plowed. The family knew the established order very well - Jules devotes morning hours to literature. True, the path to this idyll was rather tortuous. And the story of Jules Gabriel Verne began in provincial Nantes, in February 1828.

The head of the Vern family, Pierre Verne, was a successful lawyer and owned his own firm in Nantes. It is no coincidence that the father saw the eldest of the children, Jules, as a worthy successor to the family business. At first, young Verne succumbed to parental influence - he successfully graduated from the Sorbonne with a degree in law and seriously thought about becoming a lawyer.

However, life in Paris, where the eighteen-year-old Jules moved, brought him together with a hitherto unfamiliar type of people - representatives of the literary beau monde, who were full of the metropolitan Montmart. It was then that the literary inclinations that Verne always noticed in himself manifested themselves with particular force. Now he knew that he would not return to Nantes and become his father's successor. The son repeatedly wrote about this in letters to his parent: “You understand, dad, it’s not even worth trying. What helper am I? Your office will fall into disrepair in my hands. Better to be a good writer than a bad lawyer.”

The father did not share his son's passion, he considered literature a whim of youth. A man, the future head of the family, needs a worthy profession - you can earn money by writing only if you are Hugo, or, say, Dumas. Then Paul Verne did not suspect that very soon his rebellious son would personally meet the celestials of the literary Olympus, whom he casually cited as an example, and subsequently share the pedestal with them.

Encounters with the Celestials: Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas

Jules Verne clearly knew that he wanted to connect his life with literature. What is true, the action plan of the novice creator was limited to this. One desire and talent was not enough, Vern was in dire need of patronage and a venerable mentor.

The meeting with Victor Hugo, whom Jules Verne considered an unsurpassed master, was organized by his friend. The young poet (at that time Jules Verne saw himself as a lyricist) was terribly worried. In a frock coat from someone else's shoulder and with a fashionable cane bought for the last money, Vern shifted awkwardly in the corner of Hugo's richly furnished drawing room.

The owner did not show insight to the next young talent. He talked about Paris, politics, weather and not a word about literature! And young Vern simply did not have the courage to take the conversation in a different direction.

Fortunately, a merciful fate gives Verne another chance to prove himself and brings him together with Alexander Dumas himself. The author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo immediately spoke to the young man about art. Word for word, and Jules Verne himself did not notice how he was invited to the Historical Theater by Alexandre Dumas.

At first, the newcomer did the rough work - he ruled the play, met with the actors and listened to their many whims. And a little later he showed himself in the role of a playwright. His creative debut took place in 1850, when the play Crumpled Straws was staged on the stage.

Birth of Extraordinary Adventures

True fame, success and material independence Jules Verne brought his novels. During his literary career, Verne wrote 66 novels (some of them were published posthumously, others remained unfinished). The first of these was born quite spontaneously under the influence of a love of science, travel and adventure.

In 1864, the 36-year-old writer Jules Verne, known only in narrow literary circles, placed the manuscript of Five Weeks in a Balloon on the desk of the editor of the periodical Review of Two Worlds, Francois Bulo. The novel was about the English doctor Samuel Ferguson, who, in the company of a friend and servant, goes on a trip in a hot air balloon. Having improved the aircraft with the help of a special mechanism, Ferguson was able to go a long way, visiting the Sahara, Lake Chad, the banks of the Niger River and many other places in mysterious and dangerous Africa.

Bulo approved the non-trivial plot, the geographical and scientific knowledge of the author, his writing style and immediately offered to start publishing "Five weeks in a balloon" in the "Review" ... though without a fee. “But I am a writer, sir!” - outraged insulted Jules Verne. "But you don't have any name!" Bulo retorted. “But I wrote an unusual novel!” - the author did not retreat. "Congratulations. But you still don't know anyone. To be published in such a wonderful magazine as the Review of Two Worlds is an honor in itself without any fee. So without coming to a compromise, both sides parted ways.

Fortunately, Verne Nadal's friend knew the successful Parisian publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel. Having familiarized himself with the creation of a novice novelist, Etzel rubbed his hands, “This thing will work for me!” and immediately signed a contract with a novice writer.

The highly experienced Etzel did not fail - the success of the Five Days was stunning. He served as an impetus for the creation of the series "Extraordinary Adventures". It includes such masterpieces of the adventure genre as "Journey to the Center of the Earth", "From the Earth to the Moon", "Captain Grant's Children", "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", "Around the World in 80 Days", "Mysterious Island", "Fifteen-year-old captain" and others.

Jules Verne and Russia

Jules Verne's books were very popular outside of his native France. His novels were very warmly received in Russia. So, the debut Five Weeks in a Balloon was translated into Russian a year after publication, in 1864. The work was published on the pages of Sovremennik under the title Air Travel Through Africa.

Translation of works by Jules Verne

Vern's constant translator was the Ukrainian-Russian writer Marko Vovchok. She has 14 novels by the eminent Frenchman, his short prose and a popular science article.

Jules Verne himself was attracted to Russia. The heroes of nine Vernov novels visit this huge mysterious country. However, Verne himself, far from being an armchair writer, but an avid traveler, did not have time to visit Russia.

The last years of Jules Verne's life were overshadowed by illness. Pain in the ankle haunted - in the 86th Vern received a severe gunshot wound. The mentally ill nephew of the writer Gaston shot, who in such a dubious way tried to attract attention to the person of his already famous uncle.

In addition, in his declining years, Vern suffered from diabetes, suffered from a stomach, and shortly before his death, he lost his sight. But the main thing is that he did not lose his sharp mind and common sense, which allowed him to continue his literary activity until his last days. The blinded writer dictated his sunset works to his assistants.

Our next article is dedicated to Jules Verne, a famous novel that, due to its popularity, has even been filmed several times.

Check out Jules Verne, which is a continuation of the adventures described in Captain Grant's Children and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Jules Verne died at the age of 77 at his home in Amiens. Today, this recognizable building with a tower crowned with a sphere is the museum of the writer. There is a center for studying the creative heritage of the famous writer, themed evenings and meetings are held, and there is also a permanent exhibition that everyone can admire. The museum management tried to keep the atmosphere of the mansion almost the same as it was during the life of Jules Verne.

Jules Verne is a writer and geographer, a recognized classic of adventure literature, the founder of the science fiction genre. Lived and worked in the 19th century. According to UNESCO statistics, Verne's works rank second in the world in terms of the number of translations. We will consider the life and work of this amazing person.

Jules Verne: biography. Childhood

The writer was born in the small French town of Nantes on February 8, 1828. His father owned a legal office and was very famous among the townspeople. Mother, Scottish by birth, loved art and even taught literature at a local school for some time. It is believed that it was she who instilled in her son a love of books and directed him to the writing path. Although the father saw in him only the successor of his work.

Since childhood, Jules Verne, whose biography is presented here, was between two fires, brought up by such dissimilar people. No wonder he hesitated which path to take. In his school years, he read a lot, his mother picked up books for him. But having matured, he decided to become a lawyer, for which he went to Paris.

As an adult, he will write a short autobiographical essay in which he will talk about his childhood, his father's desire to teach him the basics of the legal business and his mother's attempts to raise him as a man of art. Unfortunately, the manuscript has not been preserved; only the closest people read it.

Education

So, upon reaching adulthood, Vern goes to Paris to study. At this time, the pressure from the family was so strong that the future writer literally runs away from home. But even in the capital, he does not find the long-awaited peace. The father decides to continue to send his son, so he secretly tries to help him enter the law school. Vern finds out about this, fails his exams on purpose and tries to get into another university. This continues until there is only one faculty of law left in Paris, where the young man has not yet tried to enter.

Vern passed the exams brilliantly and studied for the first six months, when he found out that one of the teachers had known his father for a long time and was his friend. This was followed by a major family quarrel, after which the young man did not communicate with his father for a long time. Nevertheless, in 1849 he became a graduate of the Jules Verne Faculty of Law. Qualification at the end of training - licentiate of law. However, he is in no hurry to return home and decides to stay in Paris. By this time, Verne was already beginning to collaborate with the theater and met such masters as Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas. He directly informs his father that he will not continue his work.

Theatrical activity

For the next few years, Jules Verne is in dire need. The biography even testifies that the writer spent half a year of his life on the street, since there was nothing to pay for the room. But this did not move him to return to the path chosen by his father and become a lawyer. In these difficult times, Verne's first work was born.

One of his friends at the university, seeing his plight, decides to arrange a meeting with his friend from the main Historical Parisian theater. A potential employer examines the manuscript and realizes that he has an incredibly talented writer in front of him. So in 1850, a production of Verne's play "Broken Straws" first appeared on the stage. It brings the writer the first fame, and well-wishers appear ready to finance his work.

Cooperation with the theater continues until 1854. Verne's biographers call this period the initial one in the writer's career. At this time, the main stylistic features of his texts are formed. Over the years of theater work, the writer has released several comedies, short stories and librettos. Many of his works continued to be staged for many years to come.

Literary success

Jules Verne learned a lot of useful skills from cooperation with the theater. The books of the next period are very different in their subject matter. Now the writer was seized by a thirst for adventure, he wanted to describe what no other author could yet. This is how the first cycle, called "Extraordinary Journeys", is born.

In 1863, the first work in the Five Weeks in a Balloon series was published. Readers highly appreciated it. The reason for the success was that Verne supplemented the romantic line with adventure and fantasy details - for that time it was an unexpected innovation. Realizing his success, Jules Verne continued to write in the same style. Books come out one after another.

"Extraordinary Journeys" brought fame and glory to the writer, first at home, and then in the world. His novels were so multifaceted that everyone could find something interesting for themselves. Literary criticism saw in Jules Verne not just the founder of the fantastic genre, but also a man who believed in scientific and technological progress and the power of reason.

Trips

Jules Verne's travels were not only on paper. Most of all, the writer loved sea travel. He even had three yachts that bore the same name - "Saint-Michel". In 1859 Verne traveled to Scotland and England, and in 1861 to Scandinavia. 6 years after that, he went on a transatlantic cruise on the then-famous Great Eastern steamer to the USA, saw Niagara Falls, and visited New York.

In 1878, the writer on his already yacht travels around the Mediterranean Sea. On this trip, he visited Lisbon, Gibraltar, Tangier and Algiers. Later, he also independently sailed again to England and Scotland.

Jules Verne's travels are becoming more and more ambitious. And in 1881 he went on a big voyage to Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. The plans also included a visit to St. Petersburg, but this idea was prevented by a storm. The last expedition of the writer took place in 1884. Then he visited Malta, Algeria and Italy, as well as several other Mediterranean countries. These travels formed the basis of many of Verne's novels.

The reason for the cessation of travel was an accident. In March 1886, Verne was attacked and severely wounded by his mentally ill nephew Gaston Verne.

Personal life

In his youth, the writer was in love several times. But all the girls, despite signs of attention from Vern, got married. This upset him so much that he founded a circle called "Dinners of Eleven Bachelors", which included musicians, writers and artists he knew.

Verne's wife was Honorina de Vian, who came from a very wealthy family. The writer met her in the small town of Amiens. Vern came here to celebrate his cousin's wedding. Six months later, the writer asked for the hand of his beloved.

Jules Verne's family lived happily ever after. The couple loved each other and did not need anything. In marriage, a son was born, who was named Michel. The father of the family was not present at the birth, as he was in Scandinavia at that time. Growing up, Verne's son took up cinematography seriously.

Artworks

The works of Jules Verne were not only bestsellers of their time, they remain in demand and loved by many today. In total, the author wrote more than 30 plays, 20 novels and short stories, and 66 novels, among which there are unfinished and published only in the 20th century. The reason that interest in Verne's work does not subside is the writer's ability not only to create vivid storylines and describe amazing adventures, but also to portray interesting and lively characters. His characters are attractive no less than the events that happen to them.

We list the most famous works of Jules Verne:

• "Journey to the Center of the Earth".
• "From the Earth to the Moon".
• "Lord of the world".
• "Around the Moon".
• "Around the world in 80 Days".
• "Michael Strogoff".
• "Flag of the Motherland".
• 15 year old captain.
• "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", etc.

But in his novels, Verne not only talks about the greatness of science, but also warns that knowledge can also be used for criminal purposes. This attitude towards progress is characteristic of the later works of the writer.

"The Children of Captain Grant"

The novel was published in parts from 1865 to 1867. It became the first part of the famous trilogy, which was continued by 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island. The work has a three-part form and is divided depending on who is the main character of the story. The main goal of the travelers is to find Captain Grant. For this they have to visit South America, Australia and New Zealand.

"Captain Grant's Children" is recognized as one of Verne's best novels. This is an excellent example of not only adventure, but also youthful literature, so it will be easy to read it even for a schoolboy.

"Mysterious Island"

This is a robinsonade novel that was published in 1874. It is the final part of the trilogy. The action of the work takes place on a fictional island, where Captain Nemo decided to settle, having sailed there on the Nautilus submarine he created. By chance, five heroes who escaped from captivity in a balloon fall on the same island. They begin to develop desert lands, in which scientific knowledge helps them. However, it soon turns out that the island is not so uninhabited.

Predictions

Jules Verne (the biography does not confirm that he was seriously engaged in science) predicted many discoveries and inventions in his novels. We list the most interesting of them:

• A television.
• Space flights, including interplanetary ones. The writer also predicted a number of moments of space exploration, for example, the use of aluminum in the construction of a projectile car.
• Scuba gear.
• Electric chair.
• Aircraft, including those with an inverted thrust vector, and a helicopter.
• Construction of the Trans-Mongolian and Trans-Siberian Railways.

But the writer also had unfulfilled assumptions. For example, the underground strait located under the Suez Canal was never discovered. It also became impossible to fly in a cannon projectile to the moon. Although it was precisely because of this mistake that Tsiolkovsky decided to study space flights.

For his time, Jules Verne was an amazing person who was not afraid to look into the future and dream of scientific discoveries that even scientists could not imagine.

In the 70s of the last century, every summer, in any weather 1828-1905, one could see a small sailing yacht off the northern coast of France. The oncoming ships saluted her first, and their captains shouted into the mouth of the words of hello to a man in a sailor's blouse standing on the deck of the ship. It was the legendary "Captain Bern", a famous writer.

Wherever the brave and generous heroes of 65 books by Jules Verne have been (Five Weeks in a Balloon, Children of Captain Grant, Mysterious Island, 80 thousand kilometers under water, From a Cannon to the Moon, Journey to center of the Earth" and many others)! It is not surprising that legends were made up about the author of these novels.

“Jules Verne is a tireless traveler,” some said. “In his novels, he described his own adventures.”

“There is no Jules Verne,” others argued. “Jules Verne is just a pseudonym under which an entire geographical society is hidden.”

In fact, Jules Verne was neither a geographer nor a great traveler. He was just in love with science.

Ships from different countries came to the port city of Nantes, where he was born. Looking at them, the boy dreamed of mysterious islands and unprecedented adventures. However, the father decided that his son would become a lawyer, and sent him to Paris, to the university.

But Jules and there continued to dream of traveling, of unprecedented scientific discoveries and technical inventions. From this dream, from the love of science, from hard work, the world-famous novels of Jules Verne were born.

The writer had many good friends. They argued passionately about everything in the world. The actions of the French workers against the capitalist masters, the heroic struggle of the revolutionary Paris Commune - all this aroused the sympathy of Jules and his friends. In his novels, he glorified the courage, fearlessness and heroism of people who boldly face dangers. The main decoration of his office in the quiet town of Amiens was a large map of the world, and, looking at it, the writer mentally set off on a long journey along with the fearless Hatteras, the cheerful Michel Ardant, the distracted Paganel, the noble Captain Nemo.

Many great discoveries and inventions were foreseen by Jules Verne in his science fiction novels long before they appeared in life - a submarine, an airplane and a helicopter, a controlled balloon, radio, television, cinema, electric motors ... Of course, he was not the creator of these wonderful machines and devices that today no longer surprise us. But the writer's fantasy directed the search for scientists. said that the idea of ​​space flight was suggested to him by the books of Jules Verne.

Anyone who reads the books of J. Verne makes a flight through Africa in a balloon, goes to the ice of the Arctic, descends to the center of the Earth through the crater of a volcano and flies to the Moon in a cannon shell. And, probably, the astronaut who will be the first to visit the moon will certainly remember the name of the daring dreamer Jules Verne.