Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
A poet of the skies who turned the perilous early days of flight into a timeless fable about human connection.
1900–1944 (age 44)·French writer and aviator·Birthday: June 29·The Lost Generation
Biography
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry lived a life that seemed drawn from a novel of adventure. He took to the skies as a mail pilot for pioneering postal services, flying treacherous routes across Africa and South America. These experiences—of solitude, camaraderie, and mortal danger—formed the bedrock of his writing. Works like 'Night Flight' and 'Wind, Sand and Stars' captured the stark beauty and philosophical weight of aviation. His defining moment came during World War II, while in exile and despair over the fall of France. From that anguish emerged 'The Little Prince,' a deceptively simple tale that became one of the most translated books in history. Saint-Exupéry vanished on a reconnaissance mission in 1944, his plane and fate lost to the Mediterranean, leaving behind a legacy that forever links courage with tenderness.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Antoine was born in 1900, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Antoine Was Born
The biggest hits of 1900
Antoine's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1900Born
Boxer Rebellion in China
President: William McKinley
1905Started school
Einstein publishes the theory of special relativity
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1913Became a teenager
The Federal Reserve is established
President: Woodrow Wilson
1916Could drive
The Battle of the Somme claims over a million casualties
President: Woodrow Wilson
1918Could vote
World War I ends; Spanish flu pandemic kills millions
President: Woodrow Wilson
1921Turned 21
First commercial radio broadcasts
President: Warren G. Harding"My Man" — Fanny Brice
1930Turned 30
Pluto discovered
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,510President: Herbert Hoover"Body and Soul" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front
1940Turned 40
The Blitz: Germany bombs London
Gas: $0.18/galHome: $2,938Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I'll Never Smile Again" — Tommy DorseyBest Picture: Rebecca
1944Died at 44
D-Day: Allied forces land at Normandy
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $3,400Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Swinging on a Star" — Bing CrosbyBest Picture: Going My Way
Key Achievements
- Wrote and illustrated 'The Little Prince' (1943), a global literary phenomenon translated into hundreds of languages.
- Received the prestigious Prix Femina and the Grand Prize of the French Academy for his novel 'Night Flight.'
- Pioneered international postal flight routes across continents as a pilot for Aéropostale.
- Served as a reconnaissance pilot for the Allies during World War II, despite being past the age limit for such missions.
Did You Know?
He was a notoriously bad pilot who survived multiple major crashes, which often inspired his writing.
He worked as a journalist, covering the Spanish Civil War for a French newspaper.
A fragment of his downed Lockheed P-38 Lightning was recovered from the Mediterranean Sea in 2000.
He once crash-landed in the Libyan desert and survived for days with his navigator before being rescued by a Bedouin.
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
