The life and work of Exupery, the biography of this person and personal life - this is what interests many readers of our time. There were many interesting moments in his life that were 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 the pilot in one person is an interesting mixture, and we offer you to plunge into the past and live some moments of that time with a talented person.
Antoine Exupery: biography
Antoine was born on June 26, 1900 in the beautiful town of France - Lyon. His father was a nobleman of a not very high level, count. The full name of the boy was given to Antoine de Saint Exupery. His biography is filled with various events, and the first of them was the loss of his father at the age of 4 years. Further education was undertaken by his mother. First, she made sure that he graduated from a Jesuit school, and then sent him to study in a private Swiss boarding school. In 1917, Antoine became a student in the architecture department of the School of Art 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 the rights of a pilot, so far only civilian. A little later, he retrained as a military pilot and improved his skills in Istra. After completing officer courses in Avora, Antoine was promoted to junior lieutenant. He made many flights as an officer of the 34th regiment, but in 1923 his plane crashed, and Exupery was seriously injured in the head. Returning from the army, he moved to the capital of France and became interested in writing. At first, not very successful. But Antoine de Exupery, whose biography is still connected with literature, did not despair.
Activities of Antoine
Since his work as a writer was not successful, he had to change his occupation and engage in trade. First, he got a job in a car company and sold cars, and then changed cars to books, worked in a bookstore. But for a long time he could not engage in this type of activity. In 1926, he was lucky to find a place in the company Aeropostal. By controlling the aircraft, Antoine delivered mail to the African continent. Then he continued to work on a postal plane, but changed directions - from Toulouse to Dakar. Having been promoted, Antoine became the head of the station in Villa Bance. It was in this place that he wrote his first story - “Southern Postal”. After that, Exupery received another promotion and moved to South America, where he became director of the Aerostal branch. While working there, he was a member of the team that was looking for the missing person, a friend of Antoine, Guillaume. An important point is that Exupery was awarded the Legion of Honor for a significant contribution to the work of aviation. The whole life of De Saint Exupery, the biography of this man and even his death - all in one way or another connected with aviation, so this award was very important for the writer.
Character writer
Everyone who knew this man said that he was a unique person. A smile always played on Antoine's face, and he amazingly loved all people. A small nose gave him a perky look. The generous nature of the writer was distinguished by the fact that he wholeheartedly helped everyone who needed it. However, he never expected anything in return. Count Antoine de Saint Exupery, whose biography interests us, was, first of all, a man with a capital letter. He never lied because he did not know how. He was sure that hatred was no way out of the situation. Only love can defeat hate. Therefore, he was loving and very kind. With all this, Antoine was an extremely absent - minded person. He could forget to close the tap and flood the neighbors from below, could sit on the wrong lane, controlling the plane, or forget to slam the door of the apartment. However, this in no way diminished his merits.
Romance in the life of a writer
For the first time, the writer's heart trembled when he met his first love, Louise Wilmorn, who was from a very wealthy family. He did everything possible to get her favor, but she did not reciprocate and ignored his ardent courtship. When Antoine was hospitalized after the plane crashed, she completely forgot about its existence. Exupery was hard pressed by this tragedy 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 affect Louise's attitude to Saint Exupery. Antoine's biography was no longer associated with this woman. But the other ladies really liked him. Many considered him attractive, and almost all found him charming. The smile that always adorned his face made him very good-natured and attractive.
Muse of genius
Once having suffered suffering due to unrequited love, Antoine was in no hurry to plunge again into this pool. He wanted to find a woman with whom he could create a family. And found it. Such a woman was Consuela Carilo. There are many options for how future newlyweds met, but the best version is the one in which they were introduced by a common friend, Benjamin Cramier. Consuela was a widow, her previous husband, also a writer, died, and she escaped from grief in the arms of Antoine. They married in France in the spring of 1931. The wedding was very magnificent and gathered a lot of guests. As for Consuela, the reviews about the character of this woman are not always positive. She was distinguished by an explosive character, was rather 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 arrogant, although no one could call her beauty. Exupery, whose biography interests the reader in every detail, considered his wife to be the most beautiful, and she gave him strength both in writing and in work in aviation.
Correspondent
In parallel with his personal life, the professional life of the writer in the field of aviation also developed. After Aeropostal became bankrupt, Antoine worked as a plane tester, where his friend, Didier, arranged for him. The work was very dangerous, and once Antoine nearly died, testing another plane. A new activity was working as a correspondent. Having signed an agreement with the Paris Soire newspaper, Exupery traveled to different countries and wrote essays. One of the significant trips was a trip to the USSR. Feeling 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 Entrance Antoine went to the region of Spain, where at that time there was a civil war. Many of the essays from those places were the result of the work of Exupery. The biography of this man is full of danger and extreme, and this always pushed him to further crazy actions. For example, he bought a plane and wanted to set a record by flying along the Paris-Saigon line. But the plane crashed right in the middle of the desert. Antoine miraculously survived. The Bedouins saved him and the mechanics of the plane when they were almost dying of thirst.
Great writer
Almost all Exupery books appeared due to his work in aviation and pilot experience. His novels are saturated with the perception of the world through the eyes of an airplane pilot. Antoine received literary awards that rated him as a writer:
- Femin Literary Prize.
- Grand Prix du Roman (France).
- National Book Award (USA).
The works of Exupery were always multifaceted, in each of them a deep meaning was hidden. Some novels concerned only the pilot, others expressed a purely personal relationship. He liked to philosophize in his works, and this made readers think about the main idea that Exupery wanted to invest. A biography, short or detailed, in any case will reveal Antoine primarily as a writer, and then as a pilot. But here you can argue. Indeed, without Antoine the pilot there would have been no successful Antoine writer. Therefore, who is the main one, pilot or writer, a question similar to what appeared first: an egg or a chicken.
Literary heritage
The reader of our time has the opportunity to get acquainted with various works of Exupery. These are both articles and essays. But the main indicator of his talent as a writer are such novels as:
- "Southern postal".
- "Night flight".
- "Land of the people."
- "Wind, sand and stars."
- "War pilot".
- "A little prince".
It is from these novels that we recognize the author. The life of a person named Antoine Saint Exupery, the biography of this person, his personal life, etc. begin to interest the reader after he has read his work.
The death of a writer
They talked a lot about the writer's death. After all, like Antoine himself, his death was not simple and unambiguous. When the Second World War began, he did not stay at home for a day, and the day after the declaration of war he was already in the military unit. Friends discouraged him, but he was implacable. Enrolled in the reconnaissance squad. He made many combat and reconnaissance sorties. One day, July 31, 1944, he flew into reconnaissance and never returned. For a very long time he was considered missing. Only in 1998, near Marseilles, a bracelet was found in the sea, on which one could see the name “Consuela”. Later, in 2000, the wreckage of the plane on which Antoine flew was discovered. And even later, in 2008, the pilot of the German squadron admitted that it was he who shot down the Exupery plane. The biography of this talented man is so vivid that even death should have become a kind of mystery and worthily ending the life path of a great man. In honor of Antoine de Saint Exupery, the Lyon airport is named, and this is also done for a reason.