A short biography of de Saint Exupery. Antoine de Saint-Exupery, short biography. Immortal quotes from the writer

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is a French writer, professional pilot, philosopher and humanist. His real name is Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger de Saint-Exupéry. The writer was born on June 29, 1900 in Leon. He repeatedly said that “flying and writing are the same thing.” In his work, the prose writer skillfully combined reality and fantasy; all of his works can be called motivating and inspiring.

Count's family

The future writer was born into the family of Count Jean de Saint-Exupery, he was the third child. When the boy was 4 years old, his father died, and his mother raised the children. The children's first years were spent on the Saint-Maurice estate, which belonged to their grandmother.

From 1908 to 1914, Antoine and his brother François studied at the Jesuit College of Le Mans in Montreux, then they went to a Swiss Catholic boarding school. In 1917, the young man received additional education at the Paris School of Fine Arts in the department of architecture.

Flight activities

In 1921, Saint-Exupéry was drafted into the army and was assigned to the second fighter aviation regiment. Initially, the guy worked in a repair shop, but in 1923 he completed pilot courses and passed the exam to become a civilian pilot. Shortly after this, he headed to Morocco, where he retrained as a military pilot.

At the end of 1922, Antoine flies to the 34th Aviation Regiment, which was located near Paris. A few months later he had to survive the first plane crash in his life. After this, the young man decides to stay and live in the capital of France, where he earns money through literary work. The works of the unknown author were not popular with readers, so he had to work as a salesman in a bookstore and even sell cars.

In 1926, Saint-Exupéry began to fly again. He is hired as a pilot for the Aerostal company; the writer specialized in delivering correspondence to North Africa. A year later, he managed to become the head of the airport, at the same time his debut story “The Pilot” was published. The young man returns to France for six months, where he signs an agreement with the publisher Gaston Guillimard. The prose writer undertakes to write seven novels, and his work “Southern Postal” is published in the same year.

Since September 1929, the young man has been working as the head of the Buenos Aires branch of the Aeropostal Argentina company. In 1930 he was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor. A year later, Antoine decides to return to Europe, where he again gets a job working for postal airlines. At the same time, the writer received the Femina literary award for his work “Night Flight”.

Since the mid-30s, the prose writer has been engaged in journalism. He visits Moscow, after this visit 5 essays were written. In one of them, Saint-Exupery tried to describe the essence of Stalin's policies. Antoine also wrote a series of war reports from Spain. In 1934 he survived several accidents and was seriously injured. In the same year, he applies for the invention of a new aircraft landing system. In December 1935, a man crashes in the Libyan desert on the way from Paris to Saigon, but miraculously remains alive.

In 1939, the man became a laureate of two prestigious competitions. He received an award from the French Academy for his book "Planet of Humans" and a US National Book Award for his essay "Wind, Sand and Stars." For his participation in the reconnaissance operation over Arras in May 1940, the writer was awarded the Military Cross.

War time

Antoine fought against the fascist invaders from the first day of the war. He preferred to do this not only with the help of physical force, but also with the help of words, being both a publicist and a military pilot. When France was occupied by Germany, the writer headed to the free part of the country, then he moved to the USA.

In February 1943, the book “Military Pilot” was published in the USA; in the spring of the same year, the prose writer received an order for a children’s fairy tale. In 1943 Saint-Exupéry served in North Africa. It was during this period of his life that he wrote the story “Letter to a Hostage” and the fairy tale “The Little Prince,” which children and adults still read with pleasure.

Despite the fact that the publishing house ordered a children's fairy tale from the writer, the book “The Little Prince” can be called a full-fledged philosophical work. Antoine was able to convey simple and important truths of life through skillful artistic means. He does not dwell on minor personal problems, showing the depth of consciousness of each person. His drunkard, businessman and king perfectly demonstrates the shortcomings of society, but the essence lies much deeper. And the famous phrase “We are responsible for those we have tamed” will make even a skeptic think.

last years of life

During his life, Saint-Exupery managed to be a test pilot, military man and correspondent. The great writer died on July 31, 1944, his plane was shot down by opponents. For a long time, the details of Antoine’s death were not known, but in 1998 a fisherman found his bracelet.

Two years later, fragments of the plane on which the prose writer flew were discovered. It is noteworthy that no obvious traces of shelling were found on the aircraft, and this led to the emergence of many versions of the writer’s death. His latest book is recognized as a collection of parables and aphorisms “Citadel”. The writer never managed to finish it; the work was published in 1948.

Saint-Exupéry spent his entire life with one woman; he was married to Consuelo Suitsin. After the tragedy, she moved to New York, then went to France. There the woman was engaged in sculpture, she was also an artist. For many years, the widow devoted her work to perpetuating the memory of her husband.

Antoine De Saint-Exupéry is an outstanding French writer of the first half of the twentieth century. Coming from an aristocratic family, he managed to break with the bohemian lifestyle of the rich, became a professional pilot and always followed his philosophical beliefs.

Saint-Ex said: “A person must come true... Action saves from death... fear, from all weaknesses and illnesses.” And it came true. He came true as a pilot - a professional in his field, as a writer who gave the world immortal works of art, as a person - a bearer of high moral qualities.

During his life, Exupery flew halfway around the world: he carries mail to Port-Etienne, Dakar, Algeria, works in branches of French airlines in South America and the exotic Sahara, and visits Spain and the USSR as a political correspondent. Long flights encourage thinking. Saint-Ex puts everything he has imagined and experienced on paper. This is how his subtle philosophical prose was created - the novels “Southern Post Office”, “Night Flight”, “Planet of People”, “Citadel”, the stories “Pilot” and “Military Pilot”, numerous essays, articles, discussions and, of course, not -childishly deep and sad fairy tale “The Little Prince”.

Childhood (1900–1917)

“I’m not really sure I lived after childhood.”

Antoine De Saint-Exupéry was born on June 22, 1900 in Lyon into an aristocratic family. His mother, Marie De Fontcolomb, was a representative of an old Provencal family, his father, Count Jean De Saint-Exupéry, was from an even more ancient Limousin family, whose members were knights of the Holy Grail.

Antoine did not know his father's affection - his father died when young Exupery was only four years old. A mother with five young children (Marie-Madeleine, Simone, Antoine, Francois and Gabrielle) is left with a sonorous name, but without a means of subsistence. The family is immediately taken under the protection of wealthy grandmothers, the owners of the castles of La Mole and Saint-Maurice de Remans. In the picturesque surroundings of the second, Tonio (Antoine's home nickname) spends his happy childhood.

He fondly remembers the fabulous “upper room” where the children lived. Everyone there had their own corner, furnished in accordance with the tastes of the little owner. From a very young age, Tonio had two passions - inventing and writing. Thus, in college, Antoine demonstrates good results in French literature (his school essay on the life of the Top Hat and poems are still preserved).

Young Exupery was prone to reflection; he could think while looking somewhere in the sky for a long time. For this feature, he was given the comic nickname “Lunatic”, but they called him that behind his back - Tonio was not a timid boy and could stand up for himself with his fists. This explains that Exupery always had the lowest score in terms of behavior.

At the age of 12, Antoine makes his first flight. At the helm is the renowned pilot Gabriel Wrablewski. Young Exupery in the cockpit. This event is mistakenly considered decisive in the choice of a future career; allegedly, from the first flight, Antoine “fell ill with the sky.” In fact, at the age of 12, young Exupery’s ideas about the future were more than vague. He was indifferent to the flight - he wrote a poem and happily forgot about it.

When Tonio turns 17, his younger brother Francois, with whom they were inseparable, dies. The tragic event was a severe shock for the teenager. For the first time he is faced with the harshness of life, from which he has been carefully protected all these years. This is how a bright childhood ends. Tonio turns into Antoine.

Choosing a career. First steps in literature (1919–1929)

“You just have to grow up, and a merciful God leaves you to your fate.”

After graduating from college, Antoine Exupery is faced with his first serious choice. He is painfully trying to chart his path in life. Enters the Naval Academy, but fails the exams. He attends the Academy of Arts (architectural department), but, fed up with the aimless bohemian life, he quits studying. Finally, in 1921, Antoine enlists in the Strasbourg aviation regiment. He again acts at random, not suspecting that this adventure will become his favorite thing in life.

1927 Behind him, 27-year-old Antoine Saint-Exupéry has successfully passed exams, the title of civilian pilot, dozens of flights, a serious crash, and acquaintance with the exotic Casablanca and Dakar.

Exupery always felt literary inclinations in himself, but did not take up the pen due to lack of experience. “Before you write,” said Saint-Ex, “you need to live.” Seven years of flight experience gives him the moral right to present to the world his first literary work - the novel “Southern Postal”, or “Post-South”.

In 1929, the independent publishing house of Gaston Gallimard (“Gallimard”) published Southern Postal. To the surprise of the author himself, critics greeted his work very warmly, noting the new range of problems raised by the aspiring writer, the dynamic style, the capacity of the narrative, and the musical rhythm of the author's style.

Having received the position of technical director, certified pilot Exupery goes overseas to South America.

Consuelo. Other publications. Exupery correspondent (1930–1939)

“Loving does not mean looking at each other. Loving means looking in one direction.”

The result of the American period in Exupery’s life was the novel “Night Flight” and the acquaintance of his future wife Consuelo Sunsin Sandoval. The expressive Argentinean woman later became the prototype of Rose from The Little Prince. Life with her was very difficult, sometimes unbearable, but even without Consuelo, Exupery could not imagine his existence. “I’ve never seen,” Saint-Ex sneered, “such a small creature making so much noise.”

Returning to France, Exupery submits Night Flight to print. This time Antoine is pleased with the work done. The second novel is not a test of the pen of a novice immature writer, but a carefully thought-out work of art. Now they are talking about the writer Exupery. Fame came to him.

Award and film adaptation of the book

For his novel Night Flight, Exupery was awarded the prestigious Femina literary prize. In 1933, the United States released a film adaptation of the book of the same name. The project was directed by Clarence Brown.

Saint-Ex continues to fly: he delivers mail from Marseille to Algeria, serves private domestic flights, earns money for his first plane, the Simoun, and almost crashes on it, crashing in the Libyan desert.

All this time, Exupery did not stop writing, showing himself as a talented publicist. In 1935, on instructions from the Paris-Soir newspaper, a French correspondent visited the USSR. The result of the trip was a series of interesting articles about the mysterious power that was behind the Iron Curtain. Europe has traditionally written about the Land of the Soviets in a negative way, but Exupery diligently avoids such categoricalness and tries to understand how this unusual world lives. Next year, the writer will again try himself in the field of a political correspondent, going to Spain, engulfed in civil war.

In 1938–39, Saint-Ex flies to America, where he works on his third novel, “Planet of People,” which became one of the writer’s most biographical works. All the heroes of the novel are real people, and the central character is Exupery himself.

"The Little Prince" (1940–1943)

“Only the heart is vigilant. You can’t see the most important thing with your eyes.”

The world is at war. The Nazis occupy Paris, and more and more countries find themselves drawn into a bloody war. At this time, on the ruins of humanity, a kind, painfully poignant story-allegory “The Little Prince” is created. It was published in 1943 in the USA, so first the main characters of the work addressed readers in English and only then in the original language (French). The classic Russian translation is by Nora Gal. The Soviet reader became acquainted with The Little Prince in 1959 on the pages of the Moscow magazine.

Today it is one of the most widely read works in the world (the book has been translated into 180 languages), and interest in it continues unabated. Many quotes from the story became aphorisms, and the visual image of the Prince, created by the author himself, became mythologized and turned into the most recognizable character in world culture.

The Last Year (1944)

“And when you are consoled, you will be glad that you once knew me...”

Friends and acquaintances strongly discouraged Exupery from participating in the war. At this moment, no one doubts his literary talent. Everyone is sure that Saint-Ex will bring much more benefit to the country by remaining in the rear. It is likely that the writer-Exupery would take such a position, but the pilot-Exupery, the citizen-Exupery, the man-Exupery cannot sit idly by. With great difficulty he wins a place in the French Air Force. Exceptionally, Exupery is allowed to fly five times. But he begs for new assignments by hook or by crook.

On July 31, the ninth flight of military reconnaissance Antoine Exupery took place. Having taken off early in the morning from the Corsican airfield of Borgo, the pilot never returned. He was declared missing.

There are many versions about the death of Saint-Ex: engine failure, shelling by enemy aircraft, even suicide, a classic for writers. To date, none of the versions has been conclusively substantiated. Half a century later, on the Marseille coast, local fisherman Jean-Claude Bianco found a bracelet. The names of Saint-Exupéry and his Rose, Consuelo Sunsin, were engraved on it.

“Too early death is tantamount to robbery: in order to fulfill your life’s calling, you must live long,” he wrote (1900 - 1944) in one of his later articles. The author of “The Little Prince” and “The Citadel” seemed to have a presentiment of his imminent death.

On July 31, 1944, he went on another combat mission and did not return. For a long time, Exupery was listed as missing. Only half a century after his disappearance were fragments of his plane and personal belongings found. How much more could he have given to humanity if he had not died on that ill-fated July day...

We have selected 20 wonderful quotes from his books:

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is familiar to the whole world, mainly thanks to his philosophical work “The Little Prince”. But what kind of person was Exupery? The biography of this writer-pilot is very little known to many, despite the fact that his fate is full of interesting twists and turns. There was dramatic love, great friendship, and adventures, many of which were reflected in his books.

The de Saint-Exupéry family

The biography of the future writer begins in the French city of Lyon, where he was born on June 29, 1900. He was the third child of Comte de Saint-Exupéry and his wife. In just 4 years of marriage, the couple managed to acquire two daughters, Marie-Madeleine and Simone, and a son. Soon after Antoine his brother Francois was born, and two years later his younger sister Gabrielle de Saint-Exupery was born.

The biography of the future writer soon became darker. Immediately after the birth of his youngest daughter, Jean de Saint-Exupéry, whom George Sand herself dubbed a real French chevalier, died, leaving his wife alone with five children and without a livelihood.

Antoine Exupery: short biography. Childhood

After the death of their father and husband, the family settles with Aunt Marie in Lyon on Place Bellecour, but often the children visit their grandmother’s castle, where Queen Margot herself once visited.

Despite the poverty, the family is very friendly, and all the children get along well with each other. Of course, Antoine is attached to his sisters, but his true friendship is with his younger brother Francois. She adores her little son and his mother; she calls him the Sun King for his blond curls, upturned nose and easy-going character, which remained with Exupery throughout his life.

His biography is full of memories from his contemporaries and family that the boy grew up very cheerful and inquisitive, adored animals, and also loved to tinker with engines; perhaps this is where his love for aviation came from, which would develop much later.

Education

At the age of 8, Antoine entered a Christian school in Lyon, and then he and his brother continued their education at the Jesuit college in Montreux. The next stage is college in Switzerland, where the boy entered at the age of 14. Having received a bachelor's degree three years later, the young man plans to enter the Naval Lyceum in Paris, even attends preparatory courses, but does not pass the competition.

When Antoine turns 17, his brother François unexpectedly dies of articular rheumatism. The young man has a hard time experiencing the loss of someone close to him; he withdraws into himself.

After failing the exams for the military lyceum, Saint-Exupéry was forced to content himself with attending lectures on architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts.

Getting to know the sky. Pilot

Exupery, whose biography is inextricably linked with the sky, dreamed of it since childhood. The first flight happened in his life when he was only 12 years old. The famous pilot Gabriel Wroblewski, despite the prohibitions of Antoine's mother, took him with him to the aviation field in Amberier. This short flight impressed the boy so much that it left a mark on his entire life.

However, the next chance to get closer to heaven presented itself only at the age of 21, when he joined the army and became a soldier of Exupery. From this moment on, his biography is full of flights. He first enlisted in an aviation regiment in Strasbourg, where he was assigned as a non-flying soldier in a repair shop. However, the sky beckoned him, and de Saint-Exupéry decided to take the civil pilot exam. In parallel with his service, he learns to fly, and at the end of the year he is transferred to Casablanca, where he takes an exam and receives the rank of officer.

During this period, he writes in his diaries that he experiences an irresistible desire to fly. Soon after gaining the opportunity to be a civilian pilot, he also received the right to fly a military aircraft, and then, having received the rank of junior lieutenant in the reserve, he was transferred to serve in an aviation regiment near Paris.

In 23, Exupery had his first accident, received severe injuries and temporarily gave up aviation. He works in a tile factory, selling trucks, until fate finally gives him the chance to realize the young man's second passion and talent - writing.

First attempts at writing

Antoine began writing quite early and was immediately successful - his first work, the fairy tale “The Odyssey of a Cylinder,” which he wrote in college in 1914, received first prize at a literary competition.

However, the door to serious literature will open for him much later. In 1925, Antoine, at the invitation of his cousin, comes to her salon, where he meets writers and publishers. They are literally fascinated by the young man and his works and offer to publish his stories. And already in April of the following year, his story “The Pilot” was published in the magazine “Silver Ship”.

Return to the sky

His first public success brings Exupery together with the wealthy businessman de Massima, who introduces him to the management of the Aeropostal airline. At first, Exupery works only as a mechanic, and then as a pilot of a mail plane. Moreover, he began to fly not just anywhere, but to Africa. He soon becomes the head of a small airport in the city of Cap Jubi in the heart of the Sahara Desert. To the surprised questions of his relatives about his fate and career as a writer, he always answered that in order to write, you first need to live. And his life here is amazing. In addition to his main work, Saint-Ex, as his friends decided to call him, uses all his diplomatic talents and either reconciles warring African tribes, pacifies the warlike Moors, rescues crashed pilots from their captivity, or even tames a wild fox.

This work and travel to new amazing places did not change the character of Exupery. His big, kind heart was ready to give everything to people. He spent money and time helping his friends and family, helping solve their problems and believed that hatred can only be overcome by love. Thanks to this work, Antoine makes his closest friends - Jean Mermoz and Henri Guillaumet. Together they will make a significant contribution to the development of aviation not only in Europe, but also in Africa and even South America.

New points on the map

After Africa, Exupery returns briefly to France, where he begins to collaborate with book publishers and also improves his piloting skills. And soon a new assignment - a branch of the Aeropostal airline in South America, in Buenos Aires. Regular night flights over Casablanca are the main work that Antoine Exupery does.

A brief biography of the further period of his life is marked by the financial collapse of his native airline in 31, after which Exupery leaves it. Subsequently, he works on the postal lines connecting Dakar, Marseille and Algeria, tests new seaplanes and again gets into a serious accident. He miraculously survives, and divers have difficulty finding him. And his next accident happened soon in Saigon, in the Mekong Valley.

In 1933, Exupéry joined the Paris-Soir newspaper, where he became a correspondent. Among other countries, he visits the USSR, where he meets Bulgakov. Exupery's essays on the Soviet Union are a great success among readers. Soon he organizes a large air tour over the Mediterranean Sea to promote aviation.

Crash of plans

Being not only a pilot, but also an inventor, he borrowed money, bought a plane and participated in the development of a project for a high-speed flight from Paris to Saigon. He is in a hurry, because in order to receive money for the task, he must complete it by December 31st. On the night of December 30, Exupery, together with his mechanic, crashed in the Libyan desert, miraculously did not die and tried to survive for several more days without food and water. They are rescued by nomadic Bedouins.

The last serious accident occurs on a flight from New York to Tierra del Fuego. For several days after the accident, the pilot was in a coma, he had serious head injuries and other injuries, so he could no longer put on a parachute independently due to a shoulder injury. The short biography of de Saint-Exupéry is literally full of such accidents.

Literary success

While still working in the hot desert of Cap Jubi, Antoine writes his first major work at night, the book “Southern Postal”. In 29, returning to France, Exupery signed an agreement with the publishing house of Gaston Gallimard for the release of seven of his novels. The second work is “Night Flight” written in Argentina. In 1931, Exupery received the prestigious Femina Prize for this novel, and a year later, American filmmakers made a full-length film based on it.

The adventures and travels that befell Exupery were always reflected in his works. Thus, an accident in the Libyan desert and subsequent wanderings through it formed the basis of the novel “Land of Men.” The work was also influenced by the trip to the USSR made by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

The biography is short, but full of experiences, and is included in the novel “Military Pilot”. It is inspired by the Second World War. Taking direct part in it and doing everything in his power, Exupery puts all his confusion, all his mental anguish into the book. In the USA it is a huge success, but in its native France it is banned by censorship. On the wave of popularity, an order for a children's fairy tale comes from America. In the course of his work, the writer creates his most famous work - “The Little Prince” with the author’s illustrations.

Personal life

Exupery, whose (short) biography would not have been revealed without personal relationships, truly loved only two women. Despite his fine spiritual organization and, undoubtedly, lyrical character, Antoine was not too lucky with girls. At the age of 18, he first met the one he fell in love with. Her name was Louise, and she was the sister of his comrade. Louise came from a noble, wealthy family and had a very quarrelsome and capricious character. Antoine, having fallen madly in love with her, proposed, but did not receive a definite answer. Some time later, when the young man was in the hospital with his first injury, he learned of the final break in the engagement. It was a big blow for him. And Louise only considered him a loser; even the literary success that Antoine de Exupery received did not change her opinion.

The biography of the tall, stately, handsome and charming French pilot, however, could not do without the attention of women, but he himself, having once experienced disappointment, was in no hurry to start affairs. At the same time, he was also worried that he was wasting his youth and life. In letters to his mother, he complained that he could not meet a woman who could calm his anxiety.

However, Antoine Exupery soon met such a woman. His biography at that time continues in Buenos Aires, where the writer meets Consuelo Carrilo. It is not known exactly how they met, but it must be assumed that they were introduced by a mutual friend, writer Benjamin Crepier. Consuelo was the widow of the writer Gomez Carrilo and had a rather complex character. The short, dark, not very beautiful woman was nevertheless the center of attention. She carried herself proudly and arrogantly, like a queen, she was well educated, well-read and intelligent. She brought confusion into Exupery's life, pestering him with violent scandals and hysterics, but it seemed that this was all he lacked.

The difficult love of a writer

The memoirs of Ksenia Kuprina, the daughter of the Russian writer A. Kuprin, are interesting. She met Consuelo in Paris and was fascinated by her intelligence and grace. One day, an Argentinean woman called Ksenia in the middle of the night and begged her to come. She told a 19-year-old girl a story about how she met an amazing man whom she fell incredibly in love with. But they are not destined to be together, since he was shot by the revolutionaries right before her eyes. Shocked, Kuprina took Consuelo to her country house and consoled her friend for several days, literally pulling her out of the lake in which she obsessively wanted to drown herself.

Imagine Kuprina’s indignation when it turned out that the shot lover was Exupery, alive and unharmed. Consuelo was so angry with him and wanted to break up that she made up the idea that he was dead and made those around her believe it.

They got married just a few months after they met, but pretty soon their life together ceased to be joyful and happy. Consuelo literally went crazy, torturing her husband with her antics. She either started a fight and threw dishes in front of guests, or went to bars until the morning and told vile, lying stories about her husband. However, he endured everything with a smile and calmness. Perhaps only he knew what she really was like, and saw the other side of her intolerable character. Be that as it may, this love was as devoted and passionate as the first day they met.

World War II period

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, whose biography dates back to the war years, ended up in Nazi Germany at 37. He was unpleasantly surprised by what Nazism did to people. When England and France declare war on Germany, Exupery is assigned to serve on the ground for health reasons, but he connected all his connections and was assigned to an aviation reconnaissance group.

After living and working in the USA in 1944, Exupery returned to his homeland again, but was not allowed to engage in intelligence activities, as he was already in the reserves. And again we have to connect connections. Despite serious health problems, he is allowed to make 5 more flights to obtain images of the area. On July 31, a plane piloted by Antoine Saint-Exupéry took off on a mission. The writer’s biography ends at this moment, since the plane did not return at the appointed time. Only 60 years later, in 2004, the remains of the kindest writer on the planet were raised and identified from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea.

Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger de Saint-Exupéry- famous French writer, poet and professional pilot.

Childhood, adolescence, youth:

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was born in the French city of Lyon, descended from an old family of Périgord nobles, and was the third of five children of Viscount Jean de Saint-Exupéry and his wife Marie de Fontcolombes. At the age of four he lost his father. His mother raised little Antoine.

In 1912, at the aviation field in Amberier, Saint-Exupéry took off for the first time in an airplane. The car was piloted by the famous pilot Gabriel Wroblewski.

Exupery entered the School of the Christian Brothers of St. Bartholomew in Lyon (1908), then with his brother Francois he studied at the Jesuit College of Sainte-Croix in Manse - until 1914, after which they continued their studies in Friborg (Switzerland) at the Marist College, preparing to enter the Ecole Naval (he took a preparatory course at the Naval Lyceum Saint-Louis in Paris), but did not pass the competition. In 1919, he enrolled as a volunteer student at the Academy of Fine Arts in the architecture department.

The turning point in his fate was 1921 - then he was drafted into the army in France. Having interrupted the deferment he received upon entering a higher educational institution, Antoine enrolled in the 2nd Fighter Aviation Regiment in Strasbourg. At first he is assigned to a work team at repair shops, but soon he manages to pass the exam to become a civilian pilot. He is transferred to Morocco, where he receives a military pilot's license, and then sent to Istres for improvement. In 1922, Antoine completed the course for reserve officers in Aurora and became a junior lieutenant. In October he was assigned to the 34th Aviation Regiment at Bourges near Paris. In January 1923, he suffered his first plane crash and suffered a traumatic brain injury. He will be discharged in March. Exupery moved to Paris, where he devoted himself to writing. However, at first he was not successful in this field and was forced to take on any job: he sold cars, he was a salesman in a bookstore.

Only in 1926 did Exupery find his calling - he became a pilot for the Aeropostal company, which delivered mail to the northern coast of Africa. In the spring, he begins work transporting mail on the line Toulouse - Casablanca, then Casablanca - Dakar. On October 19, 1926, he was appointed head of the Cap Jubi intermediate station (city of Villa Bens), on the very edge of the Sahara.

Monument to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in Tarfaya

In March 1929, Saint-Exupery returned to France, where he entered the highest aviation courses of the naval fleet in Brest. Soon, Gallimard's publishing house published the novel "Southern Postal", and Exupery left for South America as the technical director of Aeropost - Argentina, a branch of the Aeropostal company. In 1930, Saint-Exupéry was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor for his contribution to the development of civil aviation. In June, he personally participated in the search for his friend the pilot Guillaume, who suffered an accident while flying over the Andes. In the same year, Saint-Exupéry wrote “Night Flight” and met his future wife Consuelo from El Salvador.

Pilot and correspondent:

In 1930, Saint-Exupéry returned to France and received a three-month vacation. In April, he married Consuelo Sunsin (April 16, 1901 - May 28, 1979), but the couple, as a rule, lived separately. On March 13, 1931, the Aeropostal company was declared bankrupt. Saint-Exupéry returned to work as a pilot for the France-South America postal line and served the Casablanca-Port-Etienne-Dakar section. In October 1931, Night Flight was published, and the writer was awarded the Femina literary prize. He takes leave again and moves to Paris.

In February 1932, Exupery again began working for the Latecoera airline and flew as a co-pilot on a seaplane serving the Marseille-Algeria line. Didier Dora, a former Aeropostal pilot, soon got him a job as a test pilot, and Saint-Exupéry almost died while testing a new seaplane in the Bay of Saint-Raphael. The seaplane capsized, and he barely managed to get out of the cabin of the sinking car.

In 1934, Exupery went to work for the Air France airline (formerly Aeropostal), as a representative of the company, traveling to Africa, Indochina and other countries.

In April 1935, as a correspondent for the Paris-Soir newspaper, Saint-Exupéry visited the USSR and described this visit in five essays. The essay “Crime and Punishment in the Face of Soviet Justice” became one of the first works of Western writers in which an attempt was made to comprehend Stalinism. On May 3, 1935, he met with M. A. Bulgakov, which was recorded in E. S. Bulgakov’s diary.

Soon, Saint-Exupéry became the owner of his own aircraft, the C.630 Simun, and on December 29, 1935, he attempted to set a record on the Paris-Saigon flight, but suffered an accident in the Libyan desert, again barely escaping death. On January 1, he and the mechanic Prevost, dying of thirst, were rescued by Bedouins.

In August 1936, according to an agreement with the newspaper Entransijan, he went to Spain, where there was a civil war, and published a number of reports in the newspaper.

In January 1938, Exupery traveled aboard the Ile de France to New York. Here he proceeds to work on the book “Planet of People”. On February 15, he begins the flight from New York to Tierra del Fuego, but suffers a serious accident in Guatemala, after which he recovers for a long time, first in New York and then in France.

War:

On September 4, 1939, the day after France declared war on Germany, Saint-Exupéry was mobilized at the Toulouse-Montaudran military airfield and on November 3 transferred to the 2/33 long-range reconnaissance air unit, which is based in Orconte (Champagne province). This was his response to his friends’ persuasion to abandon the risky career of a military pilot. Many tried to convince Saint-Exupéry that he would bring much more benefit to the country as a writer and journalist, that thousands of pilots could be trained and that he should not risk his life. But Saint-Exupery achieved appointment to a combat unit. In one of his letters in November 1939, he writes: “I am obliged to participate in this war. Everything I love is at risk. In Provence, when the forest burns, everyone who cares grabs buckets and shovels. I want to fight, love and my inner religion force me to do this. I can’t stand by and watch this calmly.”

Saint-Exupéry made several combat missions on a Block-174 aircraft, performing aerial photographic reconnaissance missions, and was nominated for the Croix de Guerre award. In June 1941, after the defeat of France, he moved to his sister in the unoccupied part of the country, and later went to the United States. He lived in New York, where, among other things, he wrote his most famous book, “The Little Prince” (1942, published 1943). In 1943, he joined the Air Force of “Fighting France” and with great difficulty achieved his enrollment in a combat unit. He had to master piloting the new high-speed Lightning P-38 aircraft.

Saint-Exupéry in the cockpit of the Lightning

“I have a funny craft for my age. The next one in age is six years younger than me. But, of course, I prefer my current life - breakfast at six in the morning, a dining room, a tent or a whitewashed room, flying at an altitude of ten thousand meters in a world forbidden to humans - to unbearable Algerian idleness... ... I chose work for maximum wear and tear and, because necessary I always push myself to the end, I won’t back down anymore. I just wish this vile war would end before I fade away like a candle in a stream of oxygen. I have something to do after it” (from a letter to Jean Pelissier, July 9-10, 1944).

On July 31, 1944, Saint-Exupery set off from Borgo airfield on the island of Corsica on a reconnaissance flight and did not return.