Was Jules Verne the first science fiction writer?

It is difficult to decide when SF started. Juled Verne was the first to write multiple stories in the SF style, but you could easily argue that Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which preceded Verne by decades, was SF.

What about Cyrano de Bergerac' Voyage de la Terre à la Lune and Des états de la Lune et du Soleil in the 17th century.

Depends on your point of view -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction#History

This might help.

No, but his works are amongst the books that are available for young readers.

No, I do not believe he was the first,
Though some of the other answers are right to a certain extent,
I would like to go back just a bit further back in time, before the modern era.
This is interesting,
 
Homer
Homer mentioned mechanical servants akin to robots in The Iliad.

Lucian of Samosata

Lucian (born c. 125 A.D) wrote a number of satirical dialogues based on fantastic ideas.

He was the first writer of interplanetary fiction.

Icaromenippos or Journey Through the Air describes a journey to the moon with the aid of strapped-on wings.

One of his more titillating passages describes the custom in which Lunar inhabitants choose to wear artificial private parts.

Thus Lucian is also the first writer to describe prosthetic limbs and cyborgs!


Plato (c. 427-c. 348 B.C.) wrote The Republic, the first utopia.
 
I hope this sheds a little more light on the history of Sci Fi writing...
http://www.nvcc.edu/home/ataormina/scifi/history/prehistory.htm
Regards
:)