Jules Verne

Born in Nantes, France, on February 8, 1828, Jules Verne first studied law but was drawn instead to writing. After early work for the stage, he found his great breakthrough in the 1860s and began publishing the adventure novels that made him famous around the world.

Working with publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel, he developed the long-running Voyages extraordinaires series, which included Journey to the Center of the Earth, From the Earth to the Moon, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and Around the World in Eighty Days. These books blended fast-moving plots with real scientific and geographic detail, helping establish Verne as one of the key founders of science fiction.

Verne spent much of his later life in Amiens and continued writing prolifically until his death on March 24, 1905. More than a century later, his novels are still loved for their sense of adventure and for the way they invite readers to imagine what might lie just beyond the known world.