Ar.itorNE DE Sarrvr-Exupf nv

Born: Lyon, June 29, 1900 Died: Near Corsica July3l ,7944

Throughhis autobiographicalworhs, Saint-Exupery captures therra of earlyaviation uith his$rical prose and ruminations, oftenrnealing deepertruths about the human condition and humanity'ssearch for meaningand fulfillrnar,t.

teur" (the aviator), which appeared in the maga- zine LeNauired'Argentin 1926.Thus began many of National Archive s Saint-Exup6ry's writings on flying-a merging of two of his greatestpassions in life. At the time, avia- Brocnaprrv tion was relatively new and still very dangerous. Antoine Jean-Baptiste Marie Roger de Saint- The technology was basic, and many pilots relied Exup6ry (sahn-tayg-zew-pay-REE)rvas born on on intuition. Saint-Exup6ry,however, was drawn to June 29, 1900, in Lyon, France, the third of five the adventure and beauty of flight, which he de- children in an aristocratic family. His father died of picted in many of his works. a stroke lvhen Saint-Exup6ry was only three, and Saint-Exup6rybecame a frontiersman of the sky. his mother moved the family to Le Mans. Saint- He reveled in flying open-cockpit planes and loved Exup6ry, knor,vn as Saint-Ex, led a happy child- the freedom and solitude of being in the air. For hood. He wassurrounded by many relativesand of- three years,he r,vorkedas a pilot for A6ropostale, a ten spent his summer vacations rvith his family at French commercial airline that flew mail. He trav- their chateau in Saint-Maurice-de-Remens. eled berween Toulouse and Dakar, helping to es- Saint-Exup6ry went to Jesuit schools and to a tablish air routes acrossthe African desert. He be- Catholic boarding school in . His came the director of CapeJuby airfield in Rio de dream was to become an officer in the naly, and Oro in the Sahara. He had many accidents, en- from 1917 to 1919 he attended the naval prepara- countering near death experiencesin the desert.It tory schools Ecole Bossuet and Lyc6e Saint-Louis. was the isolation of the Sahara that inspired his After failing his final exam, he went on to attend later depictions of the desert in such works asLe Pe- the Ecole desBeaux-Arts to studyarchitecture. The tit Prince (1943; TheLittle Prince,1943) and Citadelle year 1921 was a turning point in his life as he (1948; TheWisdom of theSands,1950). started his military servicein the SecondRegiment In 1929,he published his first book, Courriersud of Chasseursand r,ventto Strasbourg to train as a (SouthernMail, 1933).In the sameyear, he became pilot. He earned his license in a year, and though the director of the Company he wasoffered a position in the air force, he turned and made many perilous flights over the Andes it down because of the objections of his fianc6's Mountains. His experiences in Argentina became family. Eventually,the engagementwasbroken off, the basis for his second novel, Vol de nuit (1931; and he started writing and holding severaljobs,in- , 1932). cluding that of a bookkeeper and an automobile The same year that Night Flight was published, salesman. Saint-Exup6ry married Consuelo Suncin Sando- His first publication was a short story, "L'Avia- val, who was a Salvadoran writer and artist. They

2250 Antoine de Saint-Exultdrn had first met in Buenos Aires in 1930; he was found in his net a bracelet engravedwith the name a lonely man of grand dreams, and she was a vi- Consuelo. The find triggered the memory of a brant and exotic young widow. Her personality local diver, Luc Vanrell, who remembered see- became the inspiration for the rose in The Littk ing parts of a crashed plane in the sea. Over the Prince. Their relationship was tumultuous, since span of several years, parts of the plane were grad- Saint-Exup6ry was often away on his travels and ually dug up. It was not until April 7, 2004, that had many affairs. After Saint-Exup6ry's disappear- the French Underwater Archaeological Depart- ance in flight, she wrote a memoir about their rela- ment finally confirmed that the wreckagewas that tionship, Mimoires de la Rose(2000; The Tale of the of Saint-Exup6ry's Lockheed Lightning P-38. Rose:The Passion That Inspired "," No bullet holes were found in the wreckage, 2001), which was not published until after her though onlyafewpieces of the plane have been dis- death. covered. The causeof the crash still remains a mys- When the AeropostaArgentina Company closed tery. down, Saint-Exup6ryrnade postal flights between Casablancaand Port-Etienne, and then served as a Annr-vsrs test pilot for Air France. In 1935, he began writing Antoine de Saint-Exup6ry'sworks often contain asa foreign correspondent for various newspapers, autobiographical elements and are characterized traveling all over the world. He tried to set a record by poetic llricism and philosophical meditation. in 1935 by flyrng from Paris to Saigon, but ended Although he is celebrated internationally for The up crashing in the Libyan desert,where he and his Li.ttlePrince, which has become a children's classic, copilot subsisted on meager supplies and nearly in his native France he is known for his reflective died. They were rescued three days later by the stories on the early days of aviation. Bedouins. Saint-Exup6ry's writings are mostly drawn from When World War II began, Saint-Exup6ry en- his experiences as a pilot. Some of his works are listed in the army and flew for the French air force. overtly autobiographical, including Terredes hommcs He was severelyinjured in another plane crash in (1939; Wind, Sand,and Stars,1939), Pilotede guerre 1938, when he was flying between New York City (1942; , 1942), and The Wisdomof the and Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. He stayedin New Samds,which was published posthumously. Others York to recover, living in Asharoken on the north are stories inspired by his adventures, including shore of Long Island. He ended up becoming a lec- the novels SouthernMail, NightFli,ghr, and the chil- turer and freelance writer there and eventually dren's tale The Littlz Prince.As a result of his train- wrote his most famous work, The Littk Prince. Dwr- ing and knowledge, his descriptions of flight cap- ing this time, he also became an important figure tured the world of aviation when it was still a in the French Resistancemovement. developing field. His stories depict various aspects In 1942, after the American troops had landed of the pilot's life that resonate on a more universal in North , Saint-Exup6ryvolunteered asa pi- level-the risk of embarking on a journey; the Iot for the U.S. Army. At age forfy-two, he was de- longing for freedom, solitude, and comradeship; clared too old, but on his insistencehe wasallowed the devotion to dury; and the search for under- to fly. In 1943, he flew for the French air force again standing among humankind. in North Africa. The subject of flying also becomes a vehicle of On July 31, \944, Saint-Exup6ry took off from expressionfor the author. His storiesare steepedin Sardinia on a reconnaissancemission and never re- the imagery of flight-soaring, survival,Ioneliness, turned. He might have been shot down by enemy and wandering. The journeys his characters take aircraft while flying over the Mediterranean, or are as much internal as they are external. Even perhaps he had an engine failure while in flight, or when his stories have a clear narrative, Saint- he might even have committed suicide. He wasde- Exup6ry often weavesin the reflections of his char- clared missing in action, and ayear later hewas pre- acters or of himself as the narrator, as is true of the sumed to be dead. His last manuscript, Wisdomof novel NightFlighl. In flight and in travel, the charac- theSctnds, was published posthumously. ters are in a sort of exile. far from home and in In 1998, a fisherman off the coast of Marseille search of a suitable place to land. In their explora-

2251 Antoine de Saint-Exupery tions, the charactersmake note of the people and tina, Didier Daurat, to whom Saint-Exup6ry dedi- sights around them, taking on the outside ob- cated the book. server'spoint of view,as the narrator does in Wind, The story is about the pilots who make night Sand,and Stars.In this sense,even while the charac- flights to deliver mail from Patagonia, Chile, and ters experience the thrill of adventure, there is al- Paraguay to Argentina. During these early days waysthe pervasivelonging for a deeper connection of aviation, such journeys were extremely danger- with another human being. This interconnection ous, and these courageous is experienced through the companionship of men risked their lives for shared experience, just as in the pilots' brotherly their work. The two cerr- support of one another in their devotion to their tral characters are Fabien, mission. In The Little Prince,friendship is experi- one of the best pilots of enced through the time the charactersspend gain- the company, and Riviere, ing understanding of one another. the director. One night, Flying and writing were the two propelling Fabien is lost in a storm, forces of Saint-Exup6ry's life. He has been lik- and rvhen he does not re- ened to writer Joseph Conrad in that both were turn from hisflight, Riviere men of action and men of thought. Drawing from is faced with the possibil- his personal experiences and observations, Saint- ity of having lost his best Exup6ry's writing is infused with the life he so fully pilot. lived. His talesof adventure, imbued with his ideals The narrative weaves of self-transcendence,beauty, and devotion, con- back and forth between tinue to inspire and captivate readers. Fabien in flight, Riviere waiting back at the station, and Fabien's wife, who waits in worry at home. The central conflict, how- Nrcrrr Fr,rcrrr ever, takes place in the thoughts of Riviere, which make up most of the story.Torn berween the devas- First published: Volde nuit,1931 (English tation ofFabien's disappearanceand his duty asop- translation, 1932) erational director, Riviere maintains a stern exte- Tlpe of work: Novel rior, even while he grieves over the loss of his pilot internally. He isviewed assevere and even heartless Riuiere, thedirector of the airmail seraicesin by his men, whom he must continue to send out on BuenosAires, must keephis companyrunning, night flights to deliver mail in order to keep the euenafier losing one of his pilots in flight. mail servicerunning. Riviere also has the responsi- bility of informing Fabien'swife of sixweeksthathe Night Flight, Saint-Exup6ry's second novel, won has been lost in flight. the Prix Femina, a French literary prize awarded This story displaysthe sort of philosophical ru- by a female jury, in 1931, the same year it was mination that Saint-Exup6ry is known for, but it is published. The award helped establishhis fame in more strongly rooted in narrative than his other the literary world. The book is based on Saint- works. Through the charactersof Fabien, his wife, Exup6ry's experiencesas a mail pilot and as the di- and Riviere, Saint-Exup6ry portrays the ethical di- rector of the Aeroposta Argentina Company. The Iemma that Riviere faces between duty and com- book's main character, Riviere, is based on Saint- passion,while at the same time depicting the cour- Exup6ry's actual operational director in Argen- age and devotion involved in the glory of flying.

9c)49 Antoin e de SainhE xuper y

tering anarchists, Fascists, and Loyalists, Saint- Wrun, SnNn,ano Srnns Exup6ry observesthat all humanity alike yearnsfor First published: Terredes hommes,7939 freedom and happiness.He questions the need to (English translation, 1939) fight and believes that humankind should be uni- fied in its common goal of comradeship. Type of work: Nlemoir As much as it is an adventure story, Wind, Sand, The author recountsincidmts Jrom hisJlying and Starsisalsoa contemplation on humanity. The experiences,including that of a plane crashin action of the narrative is held together with Saint- thel-ibyan desert,uhne he and his nauigator Exup6ry's lyrical prose and thoughtful rumina- suraiued for seaeraldays befmetheir rescuelry the tions. He often reflects on what little one person Bedouins. knows of anotheg and it is this struggle for under- standing between people that lies at the heart of the narrator's search. Each of his escapades Wind, Sand,and Starsisa collection of intercon- around the world becomes an opportunity fbr re- nected essaysreflecting on Saint-Exup6ry'sexperi- flection on the human spirit and on what gives ences as an airmail pilot. It is drawn mostly from meaning to humankind's existence.This is a book the period of his life when he made frequent trips of spiritual adventure andjourney through despair across the Sahara and the Andes. The book won and lonelinessin order to find companionship and the French Academy's Grand Prix du Roman and self-fulfillment. the National Book Arvard in the United States. Saint-Exup6ry portrays the world of flying through descriptions and reflections on the craft of aviation, the equipment, the devotion of the pi- Trrn Lrrrrn Pnrxcr to thesemen of lots, and the forces of nature which First publishedz Le Petit Prince,7943 musings reveal the hu- flight are subject. These (English translation, 1943) manistic philosophy of Saint-Exup6ry, depicting Tlpe of work Children's literature the extraordinary courage and dedication re- quired of the men to embark on these treacherous After crashingin the SaharaDesert, a pilot journeys. meetsa young boyfrom anotherplanet, whose Severalincidents are recorded in this account, story reaeakphilosophical truths about kfe and the most central of which is the plane crash of the nature of humankind. 1935, when Saint-Exup6ry and his navigator, Andr6 Pr6vot, set off to break the record for the fastestflightfrom Paristo Saigon.They crash in the Loved for its childlike simplicity and profound Libyan desert, somewhere between Benghazi and wisdom, The Little Prince is undoubtedly Saint- Cairo, with barely any food and water. The men Exup6ry's most famous work. It has been trans- wander aimlesslyin the desert, their bodies quickly lated into more than 170 languages and adapted succumbing to dehydration. They start to see mi- into two operas, a musical film, and an animated rages and then have even wilder hallucinations. television series. Saint-Exup6ry wrote the book They seevisions of water and of rescue,and not un- while he wasliving in New York City, shortly before til three dayslater are they found by the Bedouins, he disappeared in flight. Though commonly re- who give them water and take them by camel to a ferred to as a children's story, the book has also Swissengineer's factory in the desert.The men are been appreciated by adult audiencesfor its under- then transported to Cairo. lying philosophical nature. The stor-ycontains re- The final essayin the book touches on an flections on the themes of friendship, love, imagi- episode in Barcelona and Madrid, when Saint- nation, and the significance of an individual in the Exup6ry traveled to the Catalan front during the world. It is often published with the author's illus- Spanish Civil War. There he observesat first hand trations, a'rvhimsicalseries of watercolors. the desperation of the men who are driven by the The book begins with the narrator's reflection causesfor which they are willing to die. Encoun- on his own childhood and the unimasinative ratio-

2253 Antoine de Saint-Exuphy

nality of adults. The story quickly jumps ahead ro Prince back home with his deadly poison. The the narrator's adult life. to a time when he was Prince declines and continues on his way. He ar- stranded in the Sahara Desert after a plane crash. rives at a rose garden and is shocked to learn that He is awoken one day by a young boy, the Litde there are millions of other flowers exactly like his Prince, who asks him to draw a sheep. The ex- rose, whom he thought was unique. Reaching the change revealsthe Prince's childlike imagination, lowest point of his disenchantment with the world, reminding the narrator of the innocent worldview the Prince lies down in the grassand cries. of his own childhood. It is then that he meets the fox, the sageof the The two charactersare drawn together by their story. The fox was probably inspired by Saint- common exile-the pilot, who is stranded in the Exup6ry's encounter with a fennec, a desert sand desert, and the Little Prince, who is far from his fox, after his crash in the Libyan desert. In the home on the asteroid8612. Gradually,the narrator story, the fox persuades the Prince to tame him, learns the Prince'sstory. The Prince lived on a small and in so doing, teaches him the value of friend- planet, lvhere he spent his ship. It is through friendship that two beings be- daysweeding his home of come unique to one another, and through friend- baobab trees, tending to ship that life gains meaning. The Prince comes hisvolcanoes.and most of to realize that it is the time spent with his rose that all, taking care of his rose. has made her unique to him, different from all This mysterious rose was the other rosesin the garden who do not belong to a delicate but vain crea- anyone. ture. She was demanding Having gained this wisdom, the Prince plans to and pretentious, and de- allow the desert snake to bite him so that he can re- spite the Prince's love for turn to his planet and be reunitedwith his rose. He her, he grew disappointed sharesa final moment with the pilot at a well, where with her capriciousness. the two find physical and spiritual restoration. When he caught her in a lie one day, he became They reflect on how the important things in life disenchanted with her and left his planet to go must be perceived not with the eyesbut with the exploring. heart. The two part, and when the pilot comes The simple clarity of the child's point ofview, ex- searching for the Little Prince the next day,he has emplified in the Little Prince, is often contrasted disappeared.The pilot finally finishes repairing his with the narrow-mindedness of the adults. On his plane. The story ends with the narrator's request journeys, the Prince visits six other asteroid-plan- for his readersto look at the skiesand to remember ets, all inhabited by foolish adults. His encounters the Little Prince. include that of a king who believeshe controls the movement of the stars,a conceited man who craves Suuulnv attention but livesalone in his vanity,and a geogra- Antoine de Saint-Exup6ry's lyrical and medita- pher who drawsmaps but does not leavehis desk to tive writings, inspired by his experiences as a mail explore the places he must see in order to draw. pilot, reveal his idealistic view of humankind's po- Such contradictions leave the Prince bewildered tential. His characters, which sometimes include and disappointed. himself as the narrator, journey through disillu- Upon the geographer's suggestion, the Prince sionment and isolation to find transcendence in travelsto Earth. where he arrives at the desert and companionship and devotion to duty. meets a snake who forebodingly offers to send the Juke Wan

2254 Antoine de Saint-Exuphy

Brnr.rocRAPHY By the Author DtscussroN, LONG FICTION: Courriersud, 7929 (SouthernMail, 1933) r What meaning.d,oes the act of flying take Volde nuit, 7931 (Night Fkght, 7932) on for Antoine de Saint-Exupdry? Pilotede guerre,1942 (Flight to Anas,1942) o What are Saint-Exup6ry's thoughts on the that NONFICTION: themes of loneliness and friendship Ture deshommes, 7939 (Wind, Sand, and Stars,1 939) emerge in hiswritings? Citedellc,1948 (The Wisdomof the Sands,1950) o In what ways can his writings be viewed as

CHILDREN'S LITERATURE: more than an autobiog"raphical account of Le PetitPrince,1943 (The Littlc Prince,7943) events?

About the Author o What role does nature play in Saint- Brugioni, DinaA. "Antoine de Saint-Exup6ry: Re- Exup6ry's stories? connaissance Pilot Par Excellence." AmericanIn- o From his writing would you describe telligenceJournal (Winter / Spring, 1992) : 75-79. as an ideatist? Why or why Cate, Curtis. Antoine de Saint-Exup#1 New York: :T;ot."OUry Putnam, 1970. Des Vallieres, Nathalie. Sai.nt-Exuphy:Art, Writing, and Musings. New York: Rizzoli International, 2004. Mageo, Marcell. Saint-Exupiry.Translated by Herma Briffault. New York McGraw-Hill, 1960. Phillips,John. Poetand Pi,lotAntoine d,eSainrExupdry. New York: Scalo, 1994. Saint-Exup6ry, Consuelo de. The Thteof theRose: Tfu PassionThat Inspired "TheLittlz Prince."Ttanslated by Es- ther Allen. New York: Random House, 2001. Schiff, Stacy.Saint-Exuplry. New York: Alfred A. Ihopl 1994.

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