Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was a French writer, widely known for his book *The Little Prince*. He was also a philosopher who explored human nature, mainly in his works *Wind, Sand and Stars* and *Southern Mail*, as well as a passionate aviator and one of the pioneers of aviation.
He was born on June 29, 1900, into an old aristocratic family. He had a happy childhood, with the exception of the death of his father while he was still very young. At the age of twelve he was invited to participate in a test flight, and from that day he decided that he would become an aviator at any cost.
In 1918, after finishing school, he joined the French Air Force as an engineer. He began pilot training and later qualified to fly military aircraft. In 1922 he suffered a serious accident that nearly cost him his life. During the period when he was unable to fly, he wrote his first story, *The Aviator*.
In 1926 he found work with an airmail company, flying routes between Toulouse and North Africa. During the intervals between flights he completed the book *Southern Mail*, which recounts, among other things, the hardships of early aviation, when pilots undertook incredibly daring flights with very limited means. Many of his fellow pilots never returned.
The company for which he worked grew rapidly, expanded to many remote regions of the world, and in 1933 became part of Air France. Saint-Exupéry came into conflict with the new management and eventually lost his position. Since his marriage in 1931, he had supported himself mainly through his writing. His novel *Night Flight* brought him considerable success, and some of his works were later adapted into films in Hollywood.
In 1935 he invested all his savings in an attempt to break the Paris–Saigon speed record, but his aircraft crashed in the Libyan Desert. He and his mechanic survived for several days with almost no water before being rescued by Bedouins. The experience later inspired parts of *The Little Prince*.
In 1937 he was employed once again in aviation projects, helping to establish air connections between Europe and Central America. Another serious accident in Guatemala brought him once more to the brink of death.
While staying in New York during the war years, he wrote his two masterpieces, *Wind, Sand and Stars* and *The Little Prince*. In 1938 he had already travelled to Spain as a war correspondent and openly opposed Franco's forces during the Spanish Civil War.
When the Second World War broke out, Saint-Exupéry wished to serve as a pilot. Military doctors considered him too old and physically unfit because of his previous injuries, but he used his influence and reputation to join an aerial reconnaissance squadron.
After the fall of France in 1940, he returned to the United States, disappointed and angered by the defeat. There he wrote *Flight to Arras*, a moving account of the collapse of France and the courage of its pilots.
In 1943, following the Allied landings in North Africa, he again used his reputation and contacts to return to active service. He joined a reconnaissance squadron based in Corsica and flew an aircraft officially intended for much younger pilots. Although he was forty-four years old, suffered from numerous injuries from previous crashes, and often stayed awake late into the night writing, he insisted on continuing to fly. His colleagues worried about him, but few dared to suggest that he should stop flying missions.
On July 31, 1944, he departed on a reconnaissance mission and never returned.
In 1998 a fisherman discovered his identification bracelet in the Mediterranean Sea, and in 2000 divers located the wreckage of his aircraft near Marseille. Evidence later suggested that his plane had been shot down by a German fighter pilot. Years afterwards, the German pilot responsible revealed his identity and expressed his sorrow, explaining that he had long admired Saint-Exupéry and had read all of his books.
