French writer and professional pilot. Brief biography of Saint-Exupery

24.04.2019

Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger de Saint-Exupéry. Born June 29, 1900 in Lyon, France - died July 31, 1944. French writer, poet and professional pilot.

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. Education little Antoine mother was doing.

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.

Here he writes his first work - “Southern Postal”.

In March 1929, Saint-Exupery returned to France, where he entered the highest aviation courses navy 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-Exupery wrote “Night Flight” and met his future wife Consuelo from El Salvador.

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 began working again 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, 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 he Civil War, and publishes 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.

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 more benefit country, being a writer and journalist, that pilots can be trained in thousands and 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. Lived in New York, where, among other things, he wrote his most famous book « A little prince"(1942, publ. 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.

“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.

For a long time nothing was known about his death. And only in 1998, in the sea near Marseille, a fisherman discovered a bracelet.

There were several inscriptions on it: “Antoine”, “Consuelo” (that was the name of the pilot’s wife) and “c/o Reynal & Hitchcock, 386 4th Ave. NYC USA." This was the address of the publishing house where Saint-Exupery's books were published. In May 2000, diver Luc Vanrel said that at a depth of 70 meters he discovered the wreckage of an airplane that may have belonged to Saint-Exupéry. The remains of the plane were scattered over a strip one kilometer long and 400 meters wide. Almost immediately, the French government banned any searches in the area. Permission was received only in the fall of 2003. Experts recovered fragments of the plane. One of them turned out to be part of the pilot's cabin; the serial number of the aircraft was preserved: 2734-L. Using American military archives, scientists compared all the numbers of aircraft that disappeared during this period. Thus, it turned out that the onboard serial number 2734-L corresponds to the aircraft, which in the US Air Force was listed under the number 42-68223, that is, the Lockheed P-38 Lightning aircraft, modification F-5B-1-LO (long-range photo reconnaissance aircraft), which was managed by Exupery.

Luftwaffe logs contain no records of aircraft shot down in this area on July 31, 1944, and the wreckage itself does not show obvious signs of shelling. This gave rise to many theories about the crash, including versions about a technical malfunction and the suicide of the pilot.

According to press publications from March 2008, the German Luftwaffe veteran 86-year-old Horst Rippert, a pilot of the Jagdgruppe 200 squadron, stated that it was he who shot down the plane of Antoine de Saint-Exupery in his Messerschmitt Me-109 fighter. According to his statements, he did not know who was at the controls of the enemy plane: “I did not see the pilot, only later did I find out that it was Saint-Exupery.”

The fact that Saint-Exupéry was the pilot of the downed plane became known to the Germans on the same days from radio interceptions of negotiations at French airfields carried out by German troops. The absence of corresponding entries in the Luftwaffe logs is due to the fact that, apart from Horst Rippert, there were no other witnesses to the air battle, and this plane was not officially counted as shot down.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery- writer, thinker, poet, pilot.

Antoine Marie Roger de Saint-Exupéry was born on June 29, 1900 in Lyon, the third child of Count Jean de Saint-Exupéry and Marie de Fonscolomb. Antoine's mother is from an old Provencal family. Even more ancient is the family of Saint-Exupery - this name was borne by one of the knights of the Holy Grail. In 1904, after the death of her husband, Madame de Saint-Exupery with five children: Marie-Madeleine, seven years old, Simone, six, Antoine, four, François, two, and Gabrielle, who was not yet a year old, moved from Lyon first to her mother in the castle of La Molle near Cogolin in the Massif More, and then to the castle of Saint-Maurice de Remans, which belonged to her aunt Madame de Tricot. Here little Antoine spent his childhood, an unusually happy time of his life. Little Antoine, impetuous, impulsive, passionately attached to his mother. It was from her that Tonio inherited the gift of imagination, poetic and artistic abilities, ear for music- He played the violin well. Very early in Antoine, a taste for invention awoke. He once designed a “bicycle plane” by attaching a screen made of willow twigs and an old sheet. The attempt to take off, of course, failed, but this event already foreshadows great adventures with airplanes.

In 1909, Antoine and his brother Francois entered the Jesuit College of Saint-Croix in Le Mans. College did not leave a noticeable imprint on Tonio's life. He hasn't even made any new friends; he only communicates with his brother. His comrades quickly give Antoine the nickname "Lunatic" for his thoughtful appearance and habit of looking at the sky. However, teasing Antoine is dangerous: he becomes furious, and the offenders get what they deserve.

The college archives preserved Antoine's first serious work in prose - school work on a rather funny topic: the adventures of a top hat. The theme itself was fairy-tale, and Antoine, who felt more free the more fantastic the proposed plot, wrote an elegant fairy tale. The cylinder in it told about itself: how it was made at the factory and how it subsequently traveled, visiting the honorable gentleman, the coachman, the rag dealer, and even the terrible king of Niger - Bam-Bum.

When Antoine turned twelve, he had the opportunity to fly on an airplane for the first time. This is how Antoine received “baptism by air.” The pilot who took him for a ride was named Jules Vedrine. Before the First World War, he was perhaps the most famous aviator in the world. But the “baptism by air” did not make a strong impression on Antoine, the kind that sometimes determines future fate person. Tonio composed poems about this event, and forgot it for the sake of new amusements.

The first one has begun World War. Madame de Saint-Exupéry, being a certified nurse, is sent to a military hospital, and the boys are sent to Mongreux College in Villefranche-on-Saône on full board, and then it becomes clear how unadapted the children are to life in a closed educational institution: the boys are used to to home, servants, to contentment, and they are afraid of a modest lifestyle. And then the mother sends them to neutral Switzerland, to Friborg, where she places them in the Marist college “Villa Saint-Jean”. The children feel good here: there is no strict discipline, although of course there are rules and regulations, the pupils have tennis courts, a fencing hall, a swimming pool at their disposal, they can ski on the snow-capped mountains... Some students - including Antoine - have separate rooms.

The year 1917 will remain in Antoine’s memory overshadowed by a sad event: his fifteen-year-old brother Francois dies of rheumatism of the heart. Antoine was stunned by his brother's death. The writer Saint-Exupery will describe his death in “The Military Pilot.” The death of the child will also be reflected on in The Citadel.

Having received in college liberal arts education and thorough training in the exact and natural sciences, Antoine goes to Paris, where he takes a course in mathematics, first at the Bossuet school, then at the Lycée Saint-Louis, preparing to enter the Higher naval school.

In Paris, he lives in a familiar environment: friends from aristocratic families, social acquaintances, dinners, music - this is the range of activities and impressions of eighteen-year-old Exupery. But his main passion is writing. Since the age of six, Antoine has been composing poems and fairy tales. In Paris, he read a whole drama in verse to his friends. They acted in it noble robbers, which terrified all kinds of carriers of evil.

This love of writing, brought by Antoine from childhood, now becomes a burden in his soul, depriving him of balance. The only way to get rid of it is to write. Of course, Antoine does not think about professional writing; he realizes that it is inaccessible to him from any point of view: nothing has been experienced yet, a way to apply forces in life has not been found.

In 1919, Antoine took exams at the Higher Naval Academy. The written paper in mathematics was recognized as the best work of the entire competition. The topic of the essay - “Tell about the impressions of an Alsatian who returned to his native village, which has again become French” - infuriates Antoine, and instead of writing pseudo-patriotic rubbish in order to get a good grade, Saint-Exupery writes only a few lines. He receives the lowest score, but is still allowed to take the oral exams, which he also fails.

Antoine is confused, he doubts the correctness of the chosen path. Deciding to combine his love for art and attraction to technology, Antoine enters the architectural department of the Academy of Arts. And now fifteen months at the Academy of Arts in Paris. Another fifteen months in which Antoine searches and does not find himself. During this period he reads Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, Plato. He rebels against the life he and his friends lead in Paris. So, fighting with his environment, but in fact fighting with himself, with his habits, with external circumstances pushing him along a smooth path, Antoine wins his first internal victory: in 1921, interrupting the deferment he received upon entering higher educational institution, he quits classes at the Faculty of Architecture and enrolls as a volunteer in the 2nd Fighter Aviation Regiment in Strasbourg. It cannot be said that he is attracted to aviation. For now, this is a leap into the unknown.

Antoine begins taking private flying lessons. Saint-Exupéry quickly mastered aerobatics. Having completed the civilian pilot training course, Exupery asks to be sent to Morocco, where he intends to obtain the rights of a military pilot: the civilian school did not give these rights. In February 1922, Antoine received a diploma as a military pilot and the rank of corporal. And in the fall of the same year, with the rank of junior lieutenant, he was assigned to the 34th Aviation Regiment in Bourges near Paris.

During this period, Antoine experiences his first strong feeling of love. She was a girl from a rich aristocratic family. They are engaged. But plans young man not destined to come true: during one of the training flights, Saint-Exupéry's plane, barely taking off from the ground, loses speed and falls to the ground. Antoine is seriously injured. The bride's parents, having learned about this, confront him with a choice: family happiness or a dangerous profession. Antoine refuses to accept the proposed choice. Neither family, nor plane. Love brought only wounds, and so did profession. He gives up his military career, but also gives up his girlfriend. And again, like a few years ago, he doesn’t know what to do, who to be?

In March 1923, he entered the office of the Boiron tile factory in Paris, in 1924 he joined the Sorer company as a worker at the Sorer truck plant, then as a traveling salesman from the same plant in Montluçon. But there is another activity that he does at night in his little room: he writes.

In April 1926, the magazine "Le navir d'Argent" published Saint-Exupéry's first story - "The Pilot", or rather, this is an excerpt from the story (later lost), which Antoine himself called "The Flight of Jacques Bernis". Why flight? In this The title is the moral meaning of the story: a young pilot runs from the empty and worthless life of the salons to a simple and wonderful business that brings him a new life, a new and strong connection with the earth.

October 11, 1926 Anutan introduces himself to the director of the airline in Toulouse, Didier Dora. Most of all, he wants to fly, but here, at the Montaudran airfield, wearing a blue mechanic's blouse, Antoine works in the hangar, dismantling engines, cleaning cylinders and spark plugs, and working as an oiler. Saint-Exupery carries out his service without complaint. It was during this period that the first shoots of real friendship with Guillaume and Mermoz, based on common cause and complete trust, arose. A few weeks later, Dora entrusts Antoine with the postal flight to Casablanca. Antoine carries mail on the line Toulouse - Casablanca (Morocco), then Casablanca - Dakar (Senegal).

In 1927, Saint-Exupéry was appointed head of the airfield at Cap Jubie.

At that time, the coast of Africa was unsafe due to nomadic tribes who traded in robbery and violence. The death of pilots was not uncommon. The new head of the airfield was tasked with establishing friendly relations with the nomads. In October, Saint-Exupéry arrived in Cap Jubie (Western Sahara). Disregarding all caution, in spite of the surrounding hostility, he achieved coordination of actions from rescue pilots obliged to rescue the crews of crashed aircraft, and most importantly, established good neighborly relations with the nomads. And at night Saint-Exupery writes “Southern Postal”.

Returning to France in March 1929, with bated breath he carries his first book to the publishing house of Gaston Gallimard. After reading the manuscript, the publishing house signs a contract with the author for seven books.

After the publication of “Southern Postal young writer I'm very excited about the reviews, and they are very flattering. Literary connoisseurs are tolerant of the novel’s weaknesses and, on the contrary, discover its true merits: new circle problems, a new, individual view of the world, a unique vision, your own, incomparable voice. The knowledge that your merits did not go unnoticed, that they were appreciated, greatly inspires the writer.

In September 1929, by order of Dora, Saint-Exupery was placed at the disposal of the Aeroposta Argentina company and sailed to Buenos Aires. As technical director, he is responsible for flights over the vast South American continent. Saint-Ex flies a lot on his own, masters new difficult routes, tests new machines. He understands very well what the pilot feels and experiences, being alone in the vast expanse of the sky and knowing that beneath him is the abyss of the ocean. Despite all the dangers, pilots fearlessly fly out to fight the elements. The writer Saint-Exupery will talk about this in his next book"Night flight". The book, which will be published in 1931, will receive the Femina Prize in France and will bring Saint-Exupéry literary fame and glory.

But this will not happen soon, and now Antoine is lonely. His desire to get married became more and more acute, more and more insistent. And it is not the callousness of his heart, not the inability to love, but the high demands in love - both for himself and for the woman he loves - that explain his failures in love. In November 1930 Benjamin Cremieux, famous critic, a member of the editorial board of the Nouvelle Revue Française magazine, introduces him to Consuelo Songqing, a small, graceful woman with huge, expressive eyes. In the spring of 1931, upon returning to France, they got married.

The young man, who feared a marriage with a woman who would create for him a bourgeois lifestyle and a calm, balanced life, received more of what he was looking for. The eccentric, absurd, impulsive Consuelo created for Antoine that atmosphere of internal anxiety and restlessness that he needed so much in order to create.

In 1931, after his dismissal from the Lines, Saint-Exupéry decided to devote himself entirely to literary work, but very soon he finds out for himself that “if he doesn’t fly, then he doesn’t write.”

Since February 1932, he again works for the airline, but this time on a seaplane serving the Marseille-Algiers line, as a co-pilot. In May 1933, all French airlines merged into one - Air France. Dore's ill-wishers at Air France refuse to accept Saint-Exupery into service. Dora gets Saint-Ex a job as a test pilot at the Latekoera design bureau. Immersed in his worries, in a depressed state, Saint-Ex begins this dangerous work, which requires special composure from the pilot. One case is typical. One day Saint-Exupery had to test a new model of a three-engine airplane. He rises into the air. During the flight, the engine malfunctioned and smoke came out of it. Having made a turn, Saint-Ex went for landing. Those watching it from the ground noticed with horror that something had separated from the plane - either part of the wing, or a sheet of skin torn off from the fuselage. Meanwhile, the plane continued its descent quite normally. On the ground it turned out that the detached object was the cockpit door, which Saint-Ex forgot to close during takeoff.

In November, while testing a seaplane, Saint-Exupery almost died in the Bay of Saint-Raphael. Saint-Ex truly owes his salvation to a miracle. He described this miracle - “swimming in Saint-Raphael” in “Land of Men”. The consequence of this accident was temporary forced rest. Saint-Exupéry completes the script for the film “Anne-Marie,” which he began in Buenos Aires, and writes the libretto for the script for the film “Igor.” But Saint-Exupery’s attempts to write specifically for cinema did not lead to any practical results: producers and directors deal with the writer’s creation at their own discretion, distort his works as they please to please the tastes of the general public. Saint-Exupery does not like this, and he refuses further attempts in this area.

Saint-Exupéry returns to work for Latecoer. He has some leisure, and at this time he writes the preface to the book by Maurice Bourdais, “The Greatness and Bondage of Aviation.”

Looking for income, he tries himself in the field of journalism. In April 1935, the Paris-Soir newspaper sent him to Moscow as a correspondent for a month. In May, the Soviet propaganda giant Maxim Gorky crashed - Saint-Exupery responded to this tragic event with a sympathetic note in Izvestia. This is followed by a series of essays about the USSR in Paris-Soir - everyday sketches in soft, humorous tones. But lectures and journalism do not satisfy Saint-Ex; he needs to fly.

He decides to break the record set by the French pilot Andre Japy, who connected Paris with Saigon in 47 hours. After two weeks of preparation, on December 29, 1935, Saint-Aix and Prevost took off from Bourget and 4 hours and 15 minutes later the plane crashed in the Libyan desert. With great difficulty, without a drop of water, they reach the caravan route, where a caravan picks them up. Antoine returns to Paris. During this period, Saint-Exupéry made his first notes for The Citadel.

In August 1936, the newspaper Entransijan sent him to Spain, where a civil war was raging. Along with advanced people of his time, Saint-Ex stands on the side of the Spanish Republicans defending their freedom in the fight against fascism. In Spanish correspondence and essays, there is a sincere concern for the fate of Europe, over which the dark shadow of fascism is already hanging. As a result of a second visit to Spain in 1937, the essay “Madrid” appears.

In January 1938, Saint-Exupery in New York. The next day, a port crane unloaded a huge box containing his Simun onto the pier. With this plane, Saint-Ex wanted to try to establish a direct connection between New York and Tierra del Fuego. On February 15, accompanied by Prevost, Saint-Ex takes off from New York and, after a short landing in Brownsville, heads for Veracruz, and from there flies to Guatemala. But immediately after taking off from an airfield in Guatemala, the plane loses speed, falls over and crashes into the ground.

Saint-Ex is saved by a miracle: he is all wounded, his lower jaw is broken, several fractures of his skull, and his left collarbone is broken. In addition, he has a concussion and is at risk of blood poisoning. He is in a comatose state for several days. But a strong body overcomes the disease. As a memory of what happened, he was left with ankylosis of his left shoulder. This made it impossible for him to jump with a parachute if necessary. It is possible that this circumstance did not play a role last role in his untimely death.

Saint-Ex is delivered to New York. The Guatemalan disaster, which almost ended tragically, thanks to the happy ending, returned Saint-Aix to good spirits and faith in his star. He begins to put in order his rough drafts, notes, articles, essays published at different times. Jean Prevost introduces him to the director of the Raynal Hitchcock publishing house, Curtis Hitchcock. An agreement is concluded between the publisher and Saint-Exupery, according to which the writer undertakes to submit the shortest possible time new book. The name of the future work has already been invented, or, rather, the name under which it will appear in America: “Wind, Sand and Stars.”

On May 25, 1939, the French Academy awarded the Grand Prize of the Novel to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry for his book Land of Men, published three months earlier in February. The honorary award again attracted public attention to the writer-pilot.

The Second World War began. After numerous accidents, Saint-Exupéry’s health is in such a state that doctors do not allow him as a pilot to fly in military aviation. He again has to show extraordinary persistence in order to defend his right to fly, his right to fight the fascists, the enemies of France and all humanity. As part of Air Group 2/33, he conducts reconnaissance and aerial photography of the enemy's position. However, due to the shameful truce concluded in November 1940, the demobilization of French troops is carried out, and Saint-Exupéry emigrates from France.

Now for Saint-Exupery the only weapon is the word. In 1942, “Military Pilot” was published. It is curious that this book was immediately banned by both the Nazis and de Gaulle's supporters. Moreover, the former are for promoting disobedience and resistance, and the latter are for allegedly “defeatist sentiments.”

In February 1943, “Letter to a Hostage” was published, written in the form of a monologue, an appeal to the writer’s friend, communist Leon Werth, where the writer seeks to express his attitude towards the war and fascism. Saint-Exupéry also dedicates his poetic fairy tale “The Little Prince” to Leon Vertue.

In the spring of 1943, pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry sails with an American military transport convoy to North Africa, to Algeria. He is 42, his health is poor, but he cannot stand aside while others are fighting. Here he is again among his comrades from Squadron 2/33. He flies again, but after an accident he is transferred to the reserve. But Saint-Ex cannot remain idle: if the pilot Saint-Exupery cannot fly, the writer Saint-Exupery takes up his pen and continues to work on his last book"Citadel", which remained unfinished. This is a book of thoughts, reflections, a parable book. However, in the spring of 1944, pilot Saint-Exupéry, thanks to his friends, again received permission to fly reconnaissance missions.

On July 31, 1944, at 8:30 a.m., the plane took off from an airfield in Corsica. Heading to Southern France. In fuel tanks for 6 hours. They waited for his return until 14:30, but after 15:00 it was clear that Saint-Exupéry could not return.

In September 1998 in the Mediterranean Sea, near the island. Rio in the waters of Marseille, on the deck of the ship “Horizon”, owned by J.-C. Bianco, a chain bracelet with a metal plate was picked up. After cleaning, the words “Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Consuelo) - c/o Reynal and Hitchcock Inc.” appeared on it. - 386 4th Ave N.Y. City - USA".

In October 2003, a group of researchers was able to bring the discovered parts of the aircraft to the surface. The parts had a serial number - 2734. Checking the number against the factory technical documentation confirmed the version that it was Saint-Exupéry's plane. The body was never found.

The beautiful legend about the writer-pilot who disappeared in the skies of France, the man whom the Arabs called the Captain of the Birds, continues to live: he disappeared, dissolved in the Mediterranean blue, went towards the stars - just like his Little Prince...

IN last period life Saint-Exupery in his work broke away from the harsh reality of life and turned to the language of allegory. This is how the symbolic fairy tale-parable “The Little Prince” appeared. The “prototype” of this tale can be considered folklore fairy tale with a wandering plot: a handsome prince, because of unhappy love, leaves his father’s house and wanders along endless roads. The little prince, an alien from the asteroid “planet of childhood”, in search of friends, in the hope of finding true love and to explore the world he sets off on his journey through alien worlds-planets.

Visiting six planets in succession, the Little Prince on each of them encounters human vices in their naked, absurd, grotesque form: power, vanity, drunkenness, pseudo-learning... Having not found on the previous planets what he was looking for, the Little Prince sets off to planet Earth.

The first creature encountered here is a mythological snake. The snake is assigned special role in a fairy tale: it symbolizes miraculous power and sad knowledge of human fate. The snake shows the prince the way to people, and at the end of the story, she, giving her poison, helps him return to his home planet. But if the snake here is some kind of metaphysical element, then the Fox character has nothing to do with ancient mythology. He is a figure from folk tales, the personification of life's wisdom. He introduces the Little Prince to the human heart, to what guides it, teaches him the rituals of love and friendship, which people have forgotten, and therefore have lost friends and lost the ability to love.

The third symbolic figure, along with the snake and the Fox, is the rose, which the Little Prince grows on his planet and which gives him so much care and concern. The beautiful and capricious rose symbolizes, of course, a woman. Many critics believe that the rose is not so much an abstract personification of femininity as a very specific person, the writer’s wife, Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry. And, perhaps, this is not at odds with the truth. The Little Prince's troubles with the rose to a certain extent reflect the difficulties that the writer himself experienced in this regard. Only a deeper understanding of the psychology of love, to which the Little Prince comes with the help of the wise Fox, allows the existing conflict to be resolved and awakens in him the desire to return to the abandoned planet.

“The Little Prince” is a typical fairy tale with a moral, or rather, with many moral teachings, told in simple language. It was written not so much for children as for adults who have not yet completely lost their childish impressionability, their childishly open view of the world and the ability to fantasize.

Another work that is often compared to The Little Prince, The Citadel is a philosophical utopia about a wise ruler who “protects” his people from the hectic and restless world of freedom and leads them to God. Central to the narrative is faith in a better future. But this utopia is based not on external regulation, but on internal one - a change in human consciousness, recognizing the need for a wise king and spiritual mentor. Saint-Exupery's utopia is faith in man as a creator and servant of the Supreme.

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

Born in the French city of Lyon on the street. Peyrat, 8, in the family of the insurance inspector Count Jean-Marc Saint-Exupéry (1863-1904) and his wife Marie Bois de Fontcolombes. The family came from an old family of Perigord nobles. Antoine (his nickname at home was "Tonio") was the third of five children. When Antoine was 4 years old, his father died of an intracerebral hemorrhage.

In 1908, Exupery entered the School of the Christian Brothers of St. Bartholomew, then, together with his brother François, he studied at the Jesuit College of Sainte-Croix in Le Mans (until 1914), in 1914-1915 the brothers studied at the Jesuit College of Notre-Dame-de-Mongreux in Villefranche-sur-Saône, after which they continued their studies in Friborg (Switzerland) at the Marist college Villa Saint-Jean (until 1917), when Antoine successfully passed the baccalaureate exam. In 1917, Francois died of rheumatic carditis, his death shocked Antoine. In October 1917, Antoine, preparing to enter the Ecole Naval, took a preparatory course at the Ecole Bossu, Lycée Saint-Louis, then, in 1918, at the Lakanal Lyceum, but in June 1919 he failed the oral entrance exam. In October 1919 he enrolled as a volunteer in the National high school Fine Arts in the Department of Architecture.

In 1921 he was drafted into the army. Having interrupted the deferment received upon entering the university, Antoine enrolled in the 2nd Fighter Aviation Regiment in Strasbourg. At first he was assigned to a work team at repair shops, but soon he managed to pass the exam to become a civilian pilot. Exupery was transferred to Morocco, where he received his license as a military pilot. In 1922, Antoine completed courses for reserve officers in Aurora and received the rank of junior lieutenant. In October he was assigned to the 34th Aviation Regiment at Bourges near Paris. In 1923, his first plane crash occurred; Exupery received a traumatic brain injury. In March he was discharged. He moved to Paris, where he took up literature.

In 1926, Exupery became a pilot for the Aeropostal company, delivering mail to the northern coast of Africa. In the spring he began working on the Toulouse - Casablanca line, then Casablanca - Dakar. In October, he was appointed head of the Cap Jubi intermediate station (city of Villa Bens) on the very edge of the Sahara. Here he wrote his first work - the novel "Southern Postal".

In 1929, Saint-Exupéry returned to France and entered the higher aviation courses of the navy in Brest. Soon Gallimard's publishing house released his novel, and Exupery went to South America as technical director of Aeropostal Argentina. 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 participated in the search for his friend, pilot Henri Guillaumet, who suffered an accident while flying over the Andes. That same year, Saint-Exupéry wrote the novel Night Flight and met his future wife from El Salvador.

When Saint-Exupéry returned to France, he married Consuelo Sunsin (1901 - 1979), but the couple, as a rule, lived separately. In 1931 Aeropostal went bankrupt. Saint-Exupéry returned to the France-Africa postal line. In October, Night Flight was published, for which the writer was awarded the Femina literary prize.

Antoine continued to fly and suffered several accidents. Participated in the 1939 war against Germany. On July 31, 1944, Exupery went on a reconnaissance flight and did not return.

The life and work of Exupery, the biography of this man and his personal life are what interests many readers of our time. There was a lot in his life interesting moments that are worth talking about. Facts from the life of Saint Exupery - a biography of one of the most mysterious authors of that time. The fate of the writer and pilot in one person is an interesting mixture, and we invite you to plunge into the past and live some moments of that time together with a talented person.

Antoine Exupery: biography

Antoine was born on June 26, 1900 in the beautiful town of France - Lyon. His father was not a very nobleman high level, Count. The boy's full name was Antoine de Saint Exupéry. His biography is filled with various events, and the first of them was the loss of his father at the age of 4 years. His further upbringing was taken over by his mother. She first saw to it that he graduated from a Jesuit school, and then sent him to study at a private Swiss boarding school. In 1917, Antoine became a student of architecture at the School of Arts in Paris. Thus, the mother fulfilled her parental duty and gave her son a decent education.

New stage

In 1921, Antoine was drafted into the army, and his fate changed dramatically. At first he worked in workshops at the airfield, but soon passed the exam and received a pilot's license, so far only a civilian one. A little later, he retrained as a military pilot and improved his skills in Istra. After completing an officer course in Avora, Antoine received the rank of junior lieutenant. He made many flights as an officer of the 34th regiment, but in 1923 his plane crashed and Exupery received a severe head injury. Returning from the army, he moved to the capital of France and became interested in writing. At first it wasn't very successful. But Antoine de Exupéry, whose biography is still connected with literature, did not despair.

Antoine's activities

Since his work as a writer was not successful, he had to change his occupation and engage in trade. First, he got a job at a car company and sold cars, and then exchanged cars for books and worked in a bookstore. But he could not engage in this type of activity for long. In 1926, he was lucky enough to find a place in the Aeropostal company. Flying an airplane, Antoine delivered mail to the African continent. Then he continued to work on the mail plane, but changed directions - from Toulouse to Dakar. Having received a promotion, Antoine became the station manager in Villa Bans. It was in this place that he wrote his first story - “Southern Postal”. After this, Exupery received another promotion and moved to South America, where he became director of a branch of the Aeropostal company. While working there, he was part of a team that was searching for a missing man, Antoine's friend, Guillaume. An important point is that Exupery was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor for his significant contribution to aviation. De Saint Exupery's whole life, the biography of this man and even his death - everything is connected in one way or another with aviation, so this award was very important for the writer.

Writer's character

Everyone who knew this man said that he was a unique personality. Antoine always had a smile on his face, and he loved all people in an amazing way. His small nose gave him a perky look. The writer’s generous character was distinguished by the fact that he selflessly helped everyone who needed it. However, he never expected anything in return. Count Antoine de Saint Exupéry, whose biography interests us, was, first of all, a man with a capital M. He never lied because he couldn't. He was sure that hatred was not the way out of the situation. Only love can overcome hatred. Therefore, he was loving and very kind. With all this, Antoine was extremely extreme. He could forget to turn off the tap and flood the neighbors below, he could land on the wrong runway while flying the plane, or forget to slam the apartment door. However, this in no way detracted from its merits.

Romance in the life of a writer

For the first time, the writer's heart trembled when he met his first love, Louise Vilmorne, who was from a very rich family. He sought her affection in every possible way, but she did not reciprocate and ignored his ardent advances. When Antoine was hospitalized after a plane crash, she completely forgot about his existence. Exupery took this tragedy seriously and suffered for a long time, experiencing the torment of unrequited love. Even when the writer became famous and recognized in the world, this did not in any way affect Louise’s attitude towards Saint Exupery. Antoine's biography was no longer connected with this woman. But the other ladies really liked him. Many people found him attractive, and almost everyone found him charming. The smile that always graced his face made him very good-natured and attractive.

Muse of genius

Having once suffered suffering because of unrequited love, Antoine was in no hurry to plunge into this pool again. He wanted to find a woman with whom he could start a family. And I found it. Such a woman turned out to be Consuela Carilo. There are many options for exactly how the future newlyweds met, but the best version is the one in which they were introduced by a mutual friend, Benjamin Cramier. Consuela was a widow, her previous husband, also a writer, died, and she fled from sadness into the arms of Antoine. They married in France in the spring of 1931. The wedding was very magnificent and attracted many guests. As for Consuela, reviews of this woman’s character are not always positive. She had an explosive character, was quite unbalanced and hysterical. But Antoine was madly in love with his wife. She had an extraordinary mind, read a lot and was an interesting conversationalist. She always behaved slightly arrogantly, although no one could call her a beauty. Exupery, whose biography interests the reader in every detail, considered his wife the most beautiful, and she gave him strength both in writing and in his work in aviation.

Correspondent

In parallel with his personal life, the writer’s professional life in the field of aviation also developed. After the Aeropostal company went bankrupt, Antoine worked as an aircraft tester, where his friend Didier got him a job. The work was very dangerous, and once Antoine almost died while testing another plane. A new type of activity was working as a correspondent. Having signed an agreement with the Paris Soir newspaper, Exupery traveled to different countries and wrote essays. One of the significant trips was a trip to the USSR. Having felt the whole atmosphere of the Stalinist regime, he tried to express his impressions in his essay, which was published by the newspaper. Later, from the newspaper "Entransigen" Antoine went to a region of Spain where at that time there was a civil war. Many essays from those places were the result of Exupery's work. The biography of this man is full of danger and extreme sports, and this always pushed him to further crazy actions. For example, he bought a plane and wanted to set a record by flying the Paris-Saigon line. But the plane crashed right in the middle of the desert. Antoine miraculously survived. He and the plane's mechanic were rescued by Bedouins when they were almost dying of thirst.

Great writer

Almost all of Exupery's books appeared thanks to his work in aviation and his experience as a pilot. His novels are imbued with the perception of the world through the eyes of an airplane pilot. Antoine received literary prizes who rated him as a writer:

Femina Literary Prize.
Grand Prix du Roman (France).
National (USA).

Exupery's works were always multifaceted, each of them had a deep meaning hidden. Some novels concerned only the pilot, others expressed purely personal relationships. He loved to philosophize in his works, and this made readers think about the main idea that Exupery wanted to put into it. A biography, short or detailed, in any case will reveal Antoine first of all as a writer, and then as a pilot. But this is debatable. After all, without Antoine the pilot there would be no successful Antoine the writer. Therefore, who is in charge, the pilot or the writer, the question is similar to what came first: the egg or the chicken.

Literary heritage

The reader of our time has the opportunity to familiarize himself with different works Exupery. These are both articles and essays. But the main indicator of his talent as a writer are such novels as:

"South Postal".
"Night flight".
"Land of People".
"Wind, sand and stars."
"Military pilot".
"A little prince".

Death of a writer

There has been a lot of talk and talk about the death of the writer. After all, like Antoine himself, his death was not simple and unambiguous. When World War II began, he did not stay at home a day, and the day after the war was declared he was already in a military unit. Friends tried to dissuade him, but he was relentless. Enlisted in the reconnaissance detachment. Made many combat and reconnaissance missions. One day, July 31, 1944, he flew on reconnaissance and never returned. For a very long time he was considered missing. Only in 1998, near Marseille, a bracelet was found in the sea on which the name “Consuella” could be seen. Even later, in 2000, the wreckage of the plane on which Antoine flew was discovered. And even later, in 2008, a pilot of a German squadron admitted that it was he who shot down Exupery’s plane. The biography of this talented man is so vivid that even death should have become a kind of mystery and ended with dignity. life path great man. Lyon Airport is named after Antoine de Saint Exupéry, and this was also done for a reason.

Journalist, pilot

Awards:

Biography

Childhood, adolescence, youth

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

Here he writes his first work - “Southern Postal”.

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 the first of January, he and the mechanic Prévost, dying of thirst, were rescued by Bedouins.

Saint-Exupéry made several combat missions in a Block-174 aircraft, performing aerial photographic reconnaissance missions, and was nominated for the Military Cross award (Fr. Croix de Guerre) . 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 USA. 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

According to press publications from March 2008, the German Luftwaffe veteran 88-year-old Horst Rippert, a pilot of the Jagdgruppe 200 squadron, stated that it was he who shot down the plane of Antoine de Saint-Exupery in his Messerschmitt Me-109 fighter. According to his statements, he did not know who was at the controls of the enemy aircraft:

Bibliography

Major works

Courier Sud. Editions Gallimard, 1929. English: Southern Mail. Southern Postal. (Option: “Mail - to the South”). Novel. Translations into Russian: Baranovich M. (1960), Isaeva T. (1963), Kuzmin D. (2000)
Vol de nuit. Roman. Gallimard, 1931. Préface d'André Gide. English: Night Flight. Night flight. Novel. Awards: December 1931, Femina Prize. Translations into Russian: Waxmacher M. (1962)
Terre des hommes. Roman. Editions Gallimard, Paris, 1938. English: Wind, Sand, and Stars. Planet of people. (Option: Land of People.) Novel. Awards: 1939 Grand Prize of the French Academy (05/25/1939). 1940 Nation Book award USA. Translations into Russian: Velle G. “Land of People” (1957), Nora Gal “Planet of People” (1963)
Pilote de guerre. Recit. Editions Gallimard, 1942. English: Flight to Arras. Reynal&Hitchcock, New York, 1942. Military pilot. Tale. Translations into Russian: Teterevnikova A. (1963)
Lettre à un otage. Essai. Editions Gallimard, 1943. English: Letter to a Hostage.
Letter to a hostage. Essay. Translations into Russian: Baranovich M. (1960), Grachev R. (1963), Nora Gal (1972) The Little Prince (fr. Le petit prince , English The little prince
) (1943). Translation by Nora Gal (1958)

Citadel. Editions Gallimard, 1948. English: The Wisdom of the Sands. Citadel. Translations into Russian: Kozhevnikova M. (1996)

Post-war editions
Lettres de jeunesse. Editions Gallimard, 1953. Préface de Renée de Saussine. Letters from Youth.
Carnets. Editions Gallimard, 1953. Notebooks.
Lettres à sa mère. Editions Gallimard, 1954. Prologue de Madame de Saint-Exupery. Letters to mother.
Un sens à la vie. Editions 1956. Textes inédits recueillis et présentés par Claude Reynal. Give life meaning. Unpublished texts collected by Claude Raynal.
Ecrits de guerre. Préface de Raymond Aron. Editions Gallimard, 1982. War notes. 1939-1944

Memories of some books. Essay. Translations into Russian: Baevskaya E. V.

Small jobs
Who are you, soldier? Translations into Russian: Ginzburg Yu. A.
Pilot (first story, published on April 1, 1926 in the Silver Ship magazine).
The morality of necessity. Translations into Russian: Tsyvyan L. M.
We need to give meaning to human life. Translations into Russian: Ginzburg Yu. A.
Appeal to the Americans. Translations into Russian: Tsyvyan L. M.
Pan-Germanism and its propaganda. Translations into Russian: Tsyvyan L. M.
Pilot and the elements. Translations into Russian: Grachev R.
Message to the American. Translations into Russian: Tsyvyan L. M.
A message to young Americans. Translations into Russian: Baevskaya E. V.
Foreword to Anne Morrow-Lindbergh's The Wind Rises. Translations into Russian: Ginzburg Yu. A.
Preface to the issue of Document magazine dedicated to test pilots. Translations into Russian: Ginzburg Yu. A.
In the middle of the night, enemy voices echo from the trenches. Translations into Russian: Ginzburg Yu. A.
Citadel Themes. Translations into Russian: Baevskaya E. V.
France first. Translations into Russian: Baevskaya E. V.
The Tale of Tsar Saltan.

Editions in Russian

Saint-Exupéry Antoine de. Southern Postal. Night flight. Planet of people. Military pilot. Letter to a hostage. A little prince. Pilot and the elements / Intro. Art. M. Gallaya. Artist G. Klodt. - M.: Artist. lit., 1983. - 447 p. Circulation 300,000 copies.

Literary awards

- Femina Prize - for the novel “Night Flight”;
- Grand Prix du Roman of the French Academy - “Planet of People”;
1939 - National book award USA - “Wind, Sand and Stars” (“Planet of People”).

Military awards

In 1939 he was awarded the Military Cross of the French Republic.

Names in honor

Lefty.
During his entire piloting career, Saint-Exupéry suffered 15 accidents.
During a business trip to the USSR, he flew on board the ANT-20 Maxim Gorky aircraft.
Saint-Exupery mastered the art of card trick perfectly.
He became the author of several inventions in the field of aviation, for which he received patents.
In the dilogy “Seekers of the Sky” by Sergei Lukyanenko, the character Antoine Lyonsky appears, combining the profession of a pilot with literary experiments.
In Vladislav Krapivin’s story “Pilot for Special Assignments,” there is a connection between this work and the fairy tale parable “The Little Prince” and its author.
Suffered an accident on the plane Codron S.630 Simon (registration number 7042, onboard - F-ANRY) during the flight