LéON BENETT

'Léon Benett', (originally named ''Hippolyte Léon Benet'') (1838 Orange, Vaucluse – 1917 Toulon) was a French painter and illustrator. He changed his surname to Benett (with double t), because Benet (with single t) means "silly" in french.
Benett is the most important illustrator of books written by Jules Verne; during 1873 - 1910 he illustrated twenty five novels from the Voyages Extraordinaires series.
Apart from the Voyages Extraordinaires books, he also illustrated other books by Jules Verne.
He also illustrated works of Victor Hugo, Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy , Thomas Mayne Reid, André Laurie , Camille Flammarion and others. Benett's illustrations depict exotic countries, arising from his real experiences for as a government employee he traversed through Algeria , Indochina, Martinique a New Caledonia.