Do you want to know some fun facts about Jules Verne?
Jules Verne was born in Nantes, France, on the 8th of February in 1828 and died in Amiens on March 24, 1905. He was a prolific French author whose writings contributed much to modern science fiction’s foundation, thus earning the title as one of the fathers of modern science fiction – a title shared with H.G. Wells.
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Most of his books are part of a series such as Journey to the Center of the Earth that got published in 1864, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea in 1870, and Around the World in Eighty Days in 1872. All of these were published with the collaboration of Pierre-Jules Hetzel, France’s most important publisher at the time.
Verne possessed a creative imagination that led him to his success as a French author.
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Things you'll find in this article
- 11 Fun Facts About Jules Verne
- 1. Jules Verne struggled to be a writer
- 2. Jules Verne is the second most translated author worldwide
- 3. He predicted the Apollo 11
- 4. Jules Verne also foresaw the development of submarines and other inventions
- 5. One of Verne’s novels depicts the future
- 6. Verne had a degree in law
- 7. His nephew shot him in 1886
- 8. He was inspired by the sea as a child
- 9. Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas influenced Verne in playwriting
- 10. Steampunk is inspired by Verne’s works
- 11. Jules Verne died of diabetes
11 Fun Facts About Jules Verne
1. Jules Verne struggled to be a writer
Jules Verne studied law while trying to convince his family to support his art career. But publishers didn’t like his early writings and he kept being rejected. To financially support his writing career all on his own, Verne tried to be a stockbroker.
He was really poor and didn’t know where to get funds, so he tried playwriting. After 15 rejections, Jules Verne met a publisher that saw potential in his works and finally published his first book.
Jules Verne hit the spot as the world’s Top 2 most translated author after Agatha Christie.
In the Top 10, he’s in line with Vladimir Lenin, Hans Christian Andersen, and Jacob Grimm. Verne’s works have been translated into 150 languages; however, the majority are inaccurate.
Jules Verne was considered a children’s books author in English translations, and his books were shortened and simplified for easy reading.
When his works got more attention in recent years, publishers decided to re-translate them to be more accurate.
3. He predicted the Apollo 11
From Earth to the Moon, published in 1865, there were parallels between their moon landing attempt and what happened a century later. Jules Verne’s book features the Baltimore Gun Club. Former artillerymen and Civil War veterans prepare for the expedition.
World War II also advanced science, which contributed to the mission. Artillerymen planned Apollo’s logistics. Jules Verne bet that Americans would do this, and they did. This newly industrialized country seemed promising when written by Verne.
NASA agreed with the author that Florida was the best starting point. Jules Verne’s Stone Hill is 139 miles from Merrit Island. Jules Verne named the moon-bound canon Columbiad. Neil Armstrong and his companion traveled in a spacecraft named Columbia.
Jules Verne accurately predicted the mission’s costs and aluminum for the spaceship.
4. Jules Verne also foresaw the development of submarines and other inventions
In his book Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Verne wrote about a 70-meter submarine. Despite the efforts of several innovators, it couldn’t be done in 1869. Jules Verne named his boat “Nautilus” for his story. The first nuclear submarine, USS Nautilus, was named after the book.
Jules Verne imagined an electric boat when electricity was new in his time. Thanks to the turbine, the Spanish Navy could launch the first electrical submarine in 1887.
Jules Verne invented in his imaginations helicopters, videoconferencing, drones, electronic chairs, guided missiles, and solar sails.
It’s amusing that a man living between his home and library was so inventive. He didn’t travel much but wrote about places and invented many locations.
5. One of Verne’s novels depicts the future
Verne wrote a story set in the 20th century in 1863, which turned out to be startlingly accurate nowadays. It showed calculators, glass skyscrapers, fast trains, a global communications network, and a society where only commerce and technology were valued.
Despite all the wonders of his contemporary world, the protagonist in the book Paris in the Twentieth Century is unable to find happiness. The book was never printed because Verne’s publisher believed it too fantastical and unlikely to succeed in the marketplace.
Only Verne’s great-grandson, Jean Jules Verne, made the discovery in 1989, and in 1994 the book was published and made public.
6. Verne had a degree in law
Even when he was still a child, Jules Verne showed a strong interest in writing. However, his father encouraged him to pursue a professional line of work and become a lawyer like he had done.
Verne’s father had a significant impact on his son. As a result, Jules ultimately decided to pursue a legal education in Paris.
In 1851, Jules Verne earned a law degree, but that did not stop him from pursuing his passion for writing.
In defiance of the plans that his father had made for Jules Verne to work as a lawyer in Nantes, the younger Verne instead chose to concentrate on his writing career.
7. His nephew shot him in 1886
When Jules Verne was in his late 50s, his mentally ill nephew Gaston suddenly became violent toward him. Verne claimed that Gaston unexpectedly shot him in the leg as he came home one day.
A bizarre fact about Jules Vernes is that the first bullet was likely intended to kill him.
Still, it missed him, and the second hit his leg and rendered him permanently disabled. Gaston was then admitted to a mental hospital.
Jules Verne, unfortunately, had diabetes as well, which prolonged his recovery time. He also contracted an infection, and as a result, he ended up with a limp that he carried until his death.
8. He was inspired by the sea as a child
When Jules Verne was only 11 years old, he was involved in the event that would later become one of the most famous anecdotes about his life.
In the year 1839, Verne successfully posed as a cabin boy in order to gain employment on a ship.
However, just as Verne’s journey was about to begin, his father forcibly removed him from the vessel. Verne was coerced into making a promise to his father that he would never leave the house and would only explore the world in his imagination.
9. Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas influenced Verne in playwriting
Because Verne’s father was a lawyer, he strongly encouraged his son to pursue a career in the legal profession.
Jules Verne made friends with Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo while attending law school in Paris. The two authors significantly impacted Verne and inspired him to explore playwriting through their writings.
10. Steampunk is inspired by Verne’s works
Verne’s collection of novels significantly impacted steampunk, a subgenre of science fiction based on industrial technology from the 19th century.
Some of Jules Verne’s characters and the machines he made have shown up in well-known steampunk works.
The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne looked into the possibility that Verne actually did some of the fantastic activities that he wrote about. Captain Nemo from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea was a character in the comic book series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
11. Jules Verne died of diabetes
There is no scientific proof that Verne had diabetes in his earlier days.
However, his lifestyle choices, such as his diet, may have favored the emergence of type 2 diabetes and hypertension later in life, which ultimately contributed to his death.
Hi, I’m Christine – a full-time traveler and career woman. Although I’m from the Philippines, my location independent career took me to over 40 countries and lived in 4 continents in the last 10 years, including France. A self-proclaimed Francophile, I love everything France.