Georges Le Faure
Georges Le Faure, born in 1858, is often associated with the early development of science fiction, a genre that gained significant recognition after the term was coined in 1926. Known also as George Faure and George Faber, Le Faure is noted for his literary endeavors that sought to emulate the works of Jules Verne, a pioneer in extraordinary journeys, which included notable tales of adventures in submarines, airships, and rockets. Throughout his career, Le Faure produced a variety of works, though he has not achieved the lasting fame of his literary counterpart Verne. His notable writings include "Le Carré Diabolique," which blends detective fiction with sci-fi elements, and "La Guerre sous l'eau," a narrative centering around a submarine invention during wartime. In collaboration with Henry de Graffigny, Le Faure also created the three-volume series "Les Aventures extraordinaires d'un savant russe," exploring imaginative voyages beyond Earth. Additionally, he ventured into film, collaborating with famed magician Harry Houdini on a project based on one of his short stories, which was released in 1921. Despite his contributions, Le Faure remains relatively obscure today, with only a few of his novels still available in print, reflecting the broader trends in early science fiction literature.
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Georges Le Faure
Writer
- Born: 1858
- Died: 1953
Biography
Georges Le Faure, born in 1858, wrote what we now describe as science fiction, even though that term was only coined in 1926. He is also known as George Faure and George Faber. Jules Verne (1828-1905) invented the genre, which was then better known as extraordinary journeys, whether in a submarine (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, first published in 1872), an airship (Master of the World, 1914), or a rocket (From the Earth to the Moon, 1865). His work proved popular enough to spawn similar kinds of work by other authors, even if none became as famous.
Le Faure might be described as a literary cousin of Verne and was one of those who tried to follow in Verne’s wake, but, unlike Verne, his work has not lasted. He had a certain following at the height of his rather long and diverse career, but died (in 1953) a virtual unknown. Nevertheless, he turned out some interesting work and even ventured into movies at one point.
Despite the large number of his novels, relatively few are known today and fewer still are available in print. In Le Carré Diabolique (the diabolic square; 1926), Le Faure manages to combine both the detective and science-fiction genres in a thriller. In his La Guerre sous l’eau (the war under water), he depicts men of various nations joining a scientist whose invention of a pocket submarine may save their countries in a future war against Germany.
Along with Henry de Graffigny, Le Faure published a three- volume series titled Les Aventures extraordinaires d’un savant russe (the extraordinary adventures of a Russian scientist; 1889-1891), which told of voyages to the moon, the sun, the small inner planets, and finally the giant outer planets and comets. AstronomerCamille Flammarion (1842-1925), who published books of his own in popularizing astronomy as well as scientific romances, another early term for science fiction, wrote a preface to each volume.
Le Faure’s venture into movies involved none other than the famous magician Harry Houdini (1874-1926). The movie was based on one of Le Faure’s short stories in which a French officer, jealous of the man to whom he lost his fiancé, causes the man to fall into a vat of molten brass in a cannon factory. In a war with Germany, the officer survives a number of battles and dies as he comes across the cannon made from the metal into which he had plunged his romantic rival. Henry Roussell adapted the movie script from Le Faure’s story. The movie was produced by the Houdini Picture Corporation, and Harry Houdini was its star. It was released in the United States in 1921.