Jules Verne

In Spanish lessons students in Year 5 have done research on Jules Verne and his great contribution to children's literature with his extraordinary works of science fiction. We have been amazed by the author's ability to anticipate the appearance of many of the inventions brought about by the technological advances of the twentieth century. On the other hand, reading excerpts from several of his works has filled us with curiosity to know the complete work and how many adventures are waiting to be discovered, all thanks to the ingenuity of this great writer.

Jules Verne (Nantes, 1828 - Amiens, 1905), French writer considered to be the founder of modern science fiction literature. In his fantastic stories he predicted with great accuracy the appearance of some of the inventions brought about by the technological advances of the twentieth century, such as television, helicopters, submarines and spacecraft.

In 1836 he joined the Saint-Donatien seminar with his brother Paul. He later studied philosophy and rhetoric at the Lycee of Nantes and traveled to Paris, fulfilling the wishes of his father to pursue a career in law. In 1848 he began writing some sonnets and drama texts, and two years later passed his doctoral thesis in law and chose the career of letters.

His literary beginnings were difficult, his plays were not a major success, and he turned to teaching to survive. From 1852 to 1854 he worked as secretary of E. Seveste at the Théâtre Lyrique, and published some stories in Le musée des familles, as Martin Paz (1852). In 1857 he became a broker and started traveling. He visited England, Scotland, Norway and Scandinavia, and continued his writing.

Later he met the publisher Hetzel, who was interested in his writings and published Five Weeks in a Balloon (1862), the work that launched him to success and encouraged him to continue with the theme of the novel of adventure and fantasy. The same publisher commissioned a regular collaboration for the magazine Magazine d'éducation et de Recreation, and he soon achieved great fame.

Taking advantage of his geographical knowledge, acquired through many trips to Europe, Africa and North America, and his enthusiasm for technological and industrial revolution, he became a specialist in science and adventure stories.

He immediately became engrossed in the writing of Journey to the Center of the Earth, which refers to geology, mineralogy and paleontology. The detailed descriptions of antediluvian animals amazed the experts, demonstrating his extraordinary scientific intuition. His third major book was From the Earth to the Moon, whose publication aroused such enthusiasm for space travel that his office was flooded with letters asking for reservations for next lunar voyage. With the same interest was received Around the World in Eighty Days, published in installments, whose success was such that  there were even bets placed on whether  Phileas Fogg, "the least rushed man in the world," would achieve his goal in such a short time.