Brief biography of de Saint Exupery. Antoine de Saint-Exupery - biography, information, personal life

Antoine De Saint-Exupéry is an outstanding French writer of the first half of the twentieth century. Coming from an aristocratic family, he managed to break with the bohemian lifestyle of the rich, became a professional pilot and always followed his philosophical beliefs.

Saint-Ex said: “A person must come true... Action saves from death... fear, from all weaknesses and illnesses.” And it came true. He came true as a pilot - a professional in his field, as a writer who gave the world immortal works of art, as a person - a bearer of high moral qualities.

During his life, Exupery flew halfway around the world: he carries mail to Port-Etienne, Dakar, Algeria, works in branches of French airlines in South America and the exotic Sahara, and visits Spain and the USSR as a political correspondent. Long flights encourage thinking. Saint-Ex puts everything he has imagined and experienced on paper. This is how his subtle philosophical prose was created - the novels “Southern Post Office”, “Night Flight”, “Planet of People”, “Citadel”, the stories “Pilot” and “Military Pilot”, numerous essays, articles, discussions and, of course, not -a childishly deep and sad fairy tale " A little prince».

Childhood (1900–1917)

“I’m not really sure I lived after childhood.”

Antoine De Saint-Exupéry was born on June 22, 1900 in Lyon into an aristocratic family. His mother, Marie De Fontcolomb, was a representative of an old Provencal family, his father, Count Jean De Saint-Exupéry, was from an even more ancient Limousin family, whose members were knights of the Holy Grail.

Antoine did not know his father's affection - his father died when young Exupery was only four years old. A mother with five young children (Marie-Madeleine, Simone, Antoine, Francois and Gabrielle) is left with a sonorous name, but without a means of subsistence. The family is immediately taken under the protection of wealthy grandmothers, the owners of the castles of La Mole and Saint-Maurice de Remans. In the picturesque surroundings of the second, Tonio (Antoine's home nickname) spends his happy childhood.

He fondly remembers the fabulous “upper room” where the children lived. Everyone there had their own corner, furnished in accordance with the tastes of the little owner. From a very young age, Tonio had two passions - inventing and writing. So, in college Antoine demonstrates good results in French literature (his school essay on the life of the Top Hat and poems are still preserved).

Young Exupery was prone to reflection; he could think while looking somewhere in the sky for a long time. For this feature, he was given the comic nickname “Lunatic”, but they called him that behind his back - Tonio was not a timid boy and could stand up for himself with his fists. This explains that Exupery always had the lowest score in terms of behavior.

At the age of 12, Antoine makes his first flight. At the helm is the renowned pilot Gabriel Wrablewski. Young Exupery in the cockpit. This event is mistakenly considered decisive in the choice of a future career; allegedly, from the first flight, Antoine “fell ill with the sky.” In fact, at the age of 12, young Exupery’s ideas about the future were more than vague. He was indifferent to the flight - he wrote a poem and happily forgot about it.

When Tonio turns 17, his younger brother Francois, with whom they were inseparable, dies. Tragic event became severe shock for a teenager. For the first time he is faced with the harshness of life, from which he has been carefully protected all these years. This is how a bright childhood ends. Tonio turns into Antoine.

Choosing a career. First steps in literature (1919–1929)

“You just have to grow up, and a merciful God leaves you to your fate.”

After graduating from college, Antoine Exupery is faced with his first serious choice. He is painfully trying to chart his path in life. Enters Naval Academy, but fails his exams. He attends the Academy of Arts (architectural department), but, fed up with the aimless bohemian life, he quits studying. Finally, in 1921, Antoine enlists in the Strasbourg aviation regiment. He again acts at random, not suspecting that this adventure will become his favorite thing in life.

1927 Behind him, 27-year-old Antoine Saint-Exupéry has successfully passed exams, the title of civilian pilot, dozens of flights, a serious crash, and acquaintance with the exotic Casablanca and Dakar.

Exupery always felt literary inclinations in himself, but did not take up the pen due to lack of experience. “Before you write,” said Saint-Ex, “you need to live.” Seven years of flying experience gives him the moral right to present his first literary work- novel “Southern Postal”, or “Post-South”.

In 1929 independent Publishing House Gaston Gallimard ("Gallimard") publishes "Southern Postal". To the surprise of the author himself, critics greeted his work very warmly, noting the new range of problems raised by the aspiring writer, the dynamic style, the capacity of the narrative, musical rhythm author's style.

Having received the position of technical director, certified pilot Exupery goes overseas to South America.

Consuelo. Other publications. Exupery correspondent (1930–1939)

“Loving does not mean looking at each other. Loving means looking in one direction.”

The result of the American period in Exupery’s life was the novel “Night Flight” and the acquaintance of his future wife Consuelo Sunsin Sandoval. The expressive Argentinean woman later became the prototype of Rose from The Little Prince. Life with her was very difficult, sometimes unbearable, but even without Consuelo, Exupery could not imagine his existence. “I’ve never seen,” Saint-Ex sneered, “such a small creature making so much noise.”

Returning to France, Exupery submits Night Flight to print. This time Antoine is pleased with the work done. The second novel is not a test of the pen of a novice immature writer, but a carefully thought-out work of art. Now they are talking about the writer Exupery. Fame came to him.

Award and film adaptation of the book

For his novel Night Flight, Exupery was awarded the prestigious Femina literary prize. In 1933, the United States released a film adaptation of the book of the same name. The project was directed by Clarence Brown.

Saint-Ex continues to fly: he delivers mail from Marseille to Algeria, serves private domestic flights, earns money for his first plane, the Simoun, and almost crashes on it, crashing in the Libyan desert.

All this time, Exupery did not stop writing, showing himself as a talented publicist. In 1935, on instructions from the Paris-Soir newspaper, a French correspondent visited the USSR. The result of the trip was a series of interesting articles about the mysterious power that was behind the Iron Curtain. Europe has traditionally written about the Land of the Soviets in a negative way, but Exupery diligently avoids such categoricalness and tries to figure out how this one lives unusual world. Next year, the writer will again try himself in the field of a political correspondent, going to Spain, engulfed in civil war.

In 1938–39, Saint-Ex flies to America, where he works on his third novel, “Planet of People,” which became one of the writer’s most biographical works. All the heroes of the novel - real faces, and the central character is Exupery himself.

"The Little Prince" (1940–1943)

“Only the heart is vigilant. You can’t see the most important thing with your eyes.”

The world is at war. The Nazis occupy Paris, everyone more countries find themselves drawn into bloody war. At this time, on the ruins of humanity, a kind, painfully poignant story-allegory “The Little Prince” is created. It was published in 1943 in the USA, so first the main characters of the work addressed readers in English and only then in the original language (French). The classic Russian translation is by Nora Gal. The Soviet reader became acquainted with The Little Prince in 1959 on the pages of the Moscow magazine.

Today it is one of the most widely read works in the world (the book has been translated into 180 languages), and interest in it continues unabated. Many quotes from the story became aphorisms, and the visual image of the Prince, created by the author himself, became mythologized and turned into the most recognizable character in world culture.

The Last Year (1944)

“And when you are consoled, you will be glad that you once knew me...”

Friends and acquaintances strongly discouraged Exupery from participating in the war. At this moment, no one doubts his literary talent. Everyone is sure that Saint-Ex will bring much more benefit to the country by remaining in the rear. It is likely that the writer-Exupery would take such a position, but the pilot-Exupery, the citizen-Exupery, the man-Exupery cannot sit idly by. With great difficulty he wins a place in the French Air Force. Exceptionally, Exupery is allowed to fly five times. But he begs for new assignments by hook or by crook.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger de Saint-Exupéry French writer, born June 29, 1900 in Lyon (France). Saint-Exupery's parents came from aristocratic families. When Antoine was only four years old, his father died of a cerebral hemorrhage, after which Antoine spent almost all his time with relatives for 5 years.
In 1909, he moved with his family to Le Mans, where he continued his studies at a Jesuit college, and then in Switzerland. Then he attempted to enter the Naval Academy and attended lectures on architecture.

Military career

In 1921, Antoine joined the army and aviation. His love for the sky began at the age of 12, when he was able to fly for the first time in the cockpit. At first, he was a member of the work team, but soon passed the examination test for a civilian pilot, and was later transferred to Morocco and became a military pilot - a junior lieutenant.
In October 1922, he was enlisted in an aviation regiment near Paris, but at the beginning of 1923 he was in a plane crash, which resulted in a traumatic brain injury, and he was soon discharged. This was followed by a move to Paris, where he devoted himself to literary activity.
In 1926, he got a job at the Aeropostal company, delivering mail to Africa. It was there, near the Sahara, that Saint-Exupery wrote his first novel, Southern Postal, published in 1929. Despite high marks from critics, Antoine did not continue writing, but enrolled in aviation courses. Also in 1929, he was transferred to South America as technical director. He worked there for two years, the company went bankrupt, and the result of his work in South America was the novel “Night Flight” (1931).
In 1930 he became a Knight of the Legion of Honor. After the bankruptcy of the company, he was forced to return to his previous job related to flights to Africa. In 1932 he began flying as a co-pilot on a seaplane, and later became a test pilot, which almost cost him his life.
He worked in civil aviation for several years and combined this with the work of a correspondent. He wrote essays about the cruel policies of I.V. Stalin and reports about the civil war taking place at that time in Spain, in which he was at that time. At this time, he was able to buy his own plane and, in an attempt to break the record, almost died in the Libyan desert, local Bedouins saved him from death.
In 1938, he flew to America and began work on the third book, “Planet of People,” a collection of autobiographical essays (1939).

The Second World War

September 3, 1939 All his friends were against Antoine going to war, however, on September 4, he was already at the military airfield. Friends assured him that he more needed at home, as a writer and journalist, but Saint-Exupery could not look calmly at how his homeland was being destroyed, he could not remain inactive. He was involved in aviation reconnaissance and received the Military Cross award.
In 1941, France was defeated and Antoine moved to his sister, and later to America, where he wrote one of the main masterpieces of world literature - “The Little Prince” (1942).
In 1943, he achieved his return to the unit as a pilot of the high-speed Lightning aircraft. On July 31, 1944, Saint-Exupéry set out from the island of Corsica. This was his last flight. During his life, he survived more than ten different plane crashes; the sky became everything to him, including death.

Personal life

In South America, Antoine met his future wife, Consuelo, and their wedding took place in 1931. The marriage was not ideal: most For a time, the couple lived separately, she lied, he cheated. He couldn’t be with her, but he couldn’t imagine his existence without her either.

Saint-Ex said: “A person must come true... Action saves from death... fear, from all weaknesses and illnesses.” And it came true. He came true as a pilot - a professional in his field, as a writer who gave the world immortal works of art, as a person - a bearer of high moral qualities.

During his life, Exupery flew halfway around the world: he carries mail to Port-Etienne, Dakar, Algeria, works in branches of French airlines in South America and the exotic Sahara, and visits Spain and the USSR as a political correspondent. Long flights encourage thinking. Saint-Ex puts everything he has imagined and experienced on paper. This is how his subtle philosophical prose was created - the novels “Southern Post Office”, “Night Flight”, “Planet of People”, “Citadel”, the stories “Pilot” and “Military Pilot”, numerous essays, articles, discussions and, of course, not -childishly deep and sad fairy tale “The Little Prince”.

Childhood (1900–1917)

“I’m not really sure I lived after childhood.”

He fondly remembers the fabulous “upper room” where the children lived. Everyone there had their own corner, furnished in accordance with the tastes of the little owner. From a very young age, Tonio had two passions - inventing and writing. Thus, in college, Antoine demonstrates good results in French literature (his school essay on the life of the Top Hat and poems are still preserved).

When Tonio turns 17, his younger brother Francois, with whom they were inseparable, dies. The tragic event was a severe shock for the teenager. For the first time he is faced with the harshness of life, from which he has been carefully protected all these years. This is how a bright childhood ends. Tonio turns into Antoine.

Choosing a career. First steps in literature (1919–1929)

“You just have to grow up, and a merciful God leaves you to your fate.”

After graduating from college, Antoine Exupery is faced with his first serious choice. He is painfully trying to chart his path in life. Enters the Naval Academy, but fails the exams. He attends the Academy of Arts (architectural department), but, fed up with the aimless bohemian life, he quits studying. Finally, in 1921, Antoine enlists in the Strasbourg aviation regiment. He again acts at random, not suspecting that this adventure will become his favorite thing in life.

Exupery always felt literary inclinations in himself, but did not take up the pen due to lack of experience. “Before you write,” said Saint-Ex, “you need to live.” Seven years of flight experience gives him the moral right to present to the world his first literary work - the novel “Southern Postal”, or “Post-South”.

In 1929, the independent publishing house of Gaston Gallimard (“Gallimard”) published Southern Postal. To the surprise of the author himself, critics greeted his work very warmly, noting the new range of problems raised by the aspiring writer, the dynamic style, the capacity of the narrative, and the musical rhythm of the author's style.

Having received the position of technical director, certified pilot Exupery goes overseas to South America.

Consuelo. Other publications. Exupery correspondent (1930–1939)

“Loving does not mean looking at each other. Loving means looking in one direction.”

Award and film adaptation of the book

All this time, Exupery did not stop writing, showing himself as a talented publicist. In 1935, on instructions from the Paris-Soir newspaper, a French correspondent visited the USSR. The result of the trip was a series of interesting articles about the mysterious power that was behind the Iron Curtain. Europe has traditionally written about the Land of the Soviets in a negative way, but Exupery diligently avoids such categoricalness and tries to understand how this unusual world lives. Next year, the writer will again try himself in the field of a political correspondent, going to Spain, engulfed in civil war.

In 1938–39, Saint-Ex flies to America, where he works on his third novel, “Planet of People,” which became one of the writer’s most biographical works. All the heroes of the novel are real people, and the central character is Exupery himself.

"The Little Prince" (1940–1943)

“Only the heart is vigilant. You can’t see the most important thing with your eyes.”

The world is at war. The Nazis occupy Paris, and more and more countries find themselves drawn into a bloody war. At this time, on the ruins of humanity, a kind, painfully poignant story-allegory “The Little Prince” is created. It was published in 1943 in the USA, so first the main characters of the work addressed readers in English and only then in the original language (French). The classic Russian translation is by Nora Gal. The Soviet reader became acquainted with The Little Prince in 1959 on the pages of the Moscow magazine.

The Last Year (1944)

“And when you are consoled, you will be glad that you once knew me...”

en.wikipedia.org

Biography

Childhood, adolescence, youth

Antoine de Saint-Exupery was born in the French city of Lyon, came from an ancient provincial noble family, 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 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 Fribourg (Switzerland) at the Marist College, preparing to enter the Ecole Naval (he took a preparatory course at the Naval Lyceum of Saint-Louis in Paris), but did not pass the competition. In 1919, he enrolled as a volunteer at the Academy. fine arts to the Department of Architecture.

Pilot and writer

The turning point in his fate was 1921 - then he was drafted into the French army. Having interrupted the deferment he received upon entering higher education educational institution, Antoine enlisted in the 2nd Fighter 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-Exupery was awarded the Knights Order 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.

Pilot and correspondent

In 1931, Saint-Exupéry returned to France and received a three-month vacation. In April, he married Consuelo Sunsin, 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 literary prize"Femina." He takes leave again and moves to Paris.

In February 1932, Exupery again began working 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 the essence of Stalinism.

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.

War

On September 4, 1939, the day after France declared war on Germany, Saint-Exupéry arrived at the place of mobilization at the Toulouse-Montaudran military airfield and on November 3 was transferred to an air unit long-range reconnaissance 2/33, 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 Exupery that he would bring much more benefit to the country as a writer and journalist, that thousands of pilots could be trained and that 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 is on fire, everyone who is not a bastard grabs buckets and shovels. I want to fight, love and my inner religion force me to do this. I can't stay away."

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. He lived in New York, where, among other things, he wrote his most famous book, “The Little Prince” (1942, published 1943). In 1943, he returned to the French Air Force 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.

Circumstances of death

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, a modification of the F-4 (long-range photo reconnaissance aircraft), which was flown 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 versions of the crash, including versions of a technical malfunction and suicide of the pilot.

According to press publications from March 2008, German Luftwaffe veteran 88-year-old Horst Rippert said that it was he who shot down Antoine Saint-Exupery's plane. According to his statements, he did not know who was at the controls of the enemy aircraft:
I didn’t see the pilot, only later did I find out that it was Saint-Exupéry

These data were obtained on the same days from radio interceptions of negotiations at French airfields carried out by German troops.

Bibliography

Major works

*Courrier 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. Preface d'Andre 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 Big bonus 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 a 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 (French 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. Preface de Renee de Saussine. Letters from Youth.
*Carnets. Editions Gallimard, 1953. Notebooks.
* Lets say it all. Editions Gallimard, 1954. Prologue de Madame de Saint-Exupery. Letters to mother.
*Un sens a la vie. Editions 1956. Textes inedits recueillis et presentes par Claude Reynal. Give life meaning. Unpublished texts collected by Claude Raynal.
* Ecrits de guerre. Preface 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).
* Morality of necessity. Translations into Russian: Tsyvyan L. M.
* We need to give meaning human life. Translations into Russian: Ginzburg Yu. A.
* Appeal to 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.
* Crime and Punishment. Article. Translations into Russian: Kuzmin D.
* 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.

Letters

* Letters from René de Saussin (1923-1930)
* Letters to mother:
* Letters to his wife, Consuelo:
* Letters from Kh. (Mrs. N): [text]
* Letters to Leon Werth
* Letters to Lewis Galantier
* Letters from J. Pelissier.
* Letters to General Shambu
* Letters to Yvonne de Letrange
* Letters to Mrs. Francois de Rose Translations into Russian: Tsyvyan L. M.
* Letters to Pierre Dalloz

Miscellaneous

* Entry in the Squadron Book of Honor 1940
* Entry in the Book of Honor of air group 2/33 1942
* Letter to one of the opponents 1942
* Letter to an unknown correspondent 1944, June 6
* Telegram to Curtis Hitchcock 1944, July 15
* A bet between Saint-Ex and his friend Colonel Max Jelly.

Literary awards

* 1930 - Femina Prize - for the novel “Night Flight”;
* 1939 - Grand Prix du Roman French Academy- “Wind, sand and stars”;
* 1939 - US National Book Award - “Wind, Sand and Stars.”

Military awards

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

Names in honor

* Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport;
* Asteroid 2578 Saint-Exupery, discovered by astronomer Tatyana Smirnova (discovered on November 2, 1975 under the number “B612”);
* Mountain peak in Patagonia Aguja Saint Exupery
* In 2003, the moon of the asteroid “45 Eugenia” was named after the Little Prince.

Interesting Facts

* 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.
* 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.
* Suffered an accident on the Codron S.630 Simon plane (registration number 7042, onboard - F-ANRY) during the flight Paris - Saigon. This episode became one of storylines book "Planet of People".

Literature

* Grigoriev V.P. Antoine Saint-Exupéry: Biography of the writer. - L.: Education, 1973.
* Nora Gal. Under the star of Saint-Aix.
* Grachev R. Antoine de Saint-Exupery. - In the book: Writers of France. Ed. E. G. Etkind. - M., Education, 1964. - p. 661-667.
* Grachev R. About the first book of the writer-pilot. - “Neva”, 1963, No. 9.
* Gubman B. The Little Prince over the Citadel of the Spirit. - In the book: Saint-Exupery A. de. Works: In 2 volumes - Trans. from fr. - M.: “Consent”, 1994. - T.2, p. 542.
* Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry. Memories of Rose. - M.: “CoLibri”
* Marcel Mijo. Saint-Exupéry (translation from French). Series "ZhZL". - M.: “Young Guard”, 1965.
*Stacy Schiff. Saint-Exupery: A Biography. Pimlico, 1994.
* Stacy Schiff. Saint-Exupery. Biography (translation from English) - M.: “Eksmo”, 2003.
* Yatsenko N.I. My Saint-Exupery: Notes of a bibliophile. - Ulyanovsk: Simb. book, 1995. - 184 pp.: ill.
* Bell M. Gabrielle Roy and Antoine de Saint-Exupery: Terre Des Hommes - Self and Non-Self.
* Capestany E.J. The Dialectic of the Little Prince.
* Higgins J.E. The Little Prince: A Reverie of Substance.
* Les critiques de notre temps et Saint-Exupery. Paris, 1971.
* Nguyen-Van-Huy P. Le Compagnon du Petit Prince: Cahier d’Exercices sur le Texte de Saint-Exupery.
* Nguyen-Van-Huy P. Le Devenir et la Conscience Cosmique chez Saint-Exupery.
* Van Den Berghe C.L. La Pensee de Saint-Exupery.

Notes

1. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, collected works in 3 volumes. Publishing house "Polaris", 1997. Volume 3, p. 95
2. Antoine de Saint-Exupery
3. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, collected works in 3 volumes. Publishing house "Polaris", 1997. Volume 3, p. 249
4. 1 2 Saint-Exupery's plane was shot down by a German pilot, news on vesti.ru. March 15, 2008
5. A simple solution to an old mystery.

Biography

His service as a reconnaissance aircraft pilot was a constant challenge to common sense: Saint-Exupery could hardly squeeze his heavy body, broken in numerous disasters, into the cramped cockpit; on the ground he suffered from the 40-degree Algerian heat, in the sky, at an altitude of ten thousand meters - from pain in poorly fused bones. He was too old for military aviation, his attention and reaction failed him - Saint-Exupery crippled expensive planes, miraculously remaining alive, but with manic stubbornness he took to the skies again. It ended the way it should have ended: in the French aviation units, an order was read out about the feat and awarding of Major de Saint-Exupery, who had disappeared without a trace.

The world has lost an amazingly bright man. The pilots of the long-range reconnaissance group recalled that in the spring and summer of 1944, Saint-Exupéry seemed “lost on this planet” - he still knew how to make others happy, but he himself was deeply unhappy. And friends said that in 1944 he needed danger “like a painkiller pill”; Saint-Exupéry had never been afraid of death before, but now he was looking for it.

The little prince fled from Earth to his planet: a single rose seemed to him more valuable than all the riches of the Earth. Saint-Exupery had such a planet: he constantly recalled his childhood - lost heaven, where there was no return. The major kept asking for the Annessy area to patrol and, shrouded in clouds from the explosions of anti-aircraft shells, glided over his native Lyon, over the castle of Saint-Maurice de Remand, which once belonged to his mother. Since then, more than one - several lives have passed, but only here he was truly happy.

Gray walls covered with ivy, a high stone tower - in the early Middle Ages it was built from large round boulders, and rebuilt in the 18th century. Once upon a time, the gentlemen de Saint-Exupéry sat out the raids of English archers, robber knights and their own peasants here, and at the beginning of the 20th century, the rather dilapidated castle sheltered the widowed Countess Marie de Saint-Exupéry and her five children. Mother and daughters occupied the first floor, the boys settled on the third. A huge entrance hall and a mirrored living room, portraits of ancestors, knightly armor, precious tapestries, damask-upholstered furniture with half-worn gilding - the old house was full of treasures, but little Antoine (everyone in the family called him Tonio) was not attracted to this. Behind the house there was a hayloft, behind the hayloft - huge park, beyond the park stretched fields that still belonged to his family. A black cat gave birth in the hayloft, swallows lived in the park, rabbits tumbled in the field and tiny mice scurried about, for which he built houses from wood chips - living creatures occupied him more than anything in the world. He tried to tame grasshoppers (Tonio put them in cardboard boxes, and they died), fed swallow chicks with bread soaked in wine and cried over the empty mouse house - freedom turned out to be more valuable than a daily portion of crumbs. Tonio teased his brother, did not listen to the governess, and screamed throughout the house when his mother spanked him with a morocco slipper. The little count loved everything that surrounded him, and everyone loved him. He disappeared into the field, went on long hikes with the forester and thought that this would go on forever.

The children were looked after by a governess; at home celebrations they danced, dressed in 18th-century camisoles; they were brought up in closed colleges - Antoine completed his education in Switzerland...

But Madame de Saint-Exupéry knew the price of this grace: the family’s situation was desperate. Count Jean de Saint-Exupéry died when Tonio was not even four years old; he left no fortune, and the estate was bringing in less and less income. The children had to take care of their future themselves - the adult world, waiting for the ruined aristocrats outside the castle gates, was cold, indifferent and vulgar.

Until the age of 16, the young count lived completely carefree - Tonio brought animals home, tinkered with model engines, teased his brother and tormented his sisters’ teacher. The mice kept running away - and he brought a white rat to the castle; The little animal turned out to be surprisingly affectionate, but one bad day it was dealt with by a gardener who couldn’t stand rodents. Then Edison woke up in him, and he began to assemble mechanisms. A telephone made from tins and cans worked perfectly, but the steam engine exploded right in his hands - he lost consciousness from horror and pain. Then Tonio became interested in hypnosis and terrorized the sweet-loving lady - having encountered the commanding gaze of a terrible child, the unfortunate old maid froze over a box of chocolate-covered cherries, like a rabbit in front of a boa constrictor. Antoine was mischievous and charming - handsome, strong, with a light brown curly head and a cute upturned nose...

Childhood ended when his beloved brother Francois died of a fever. He bequeathed a bicycle and a gun to Antoine, took communion and passed away - Saint-Exupéry forever remembered his calm and stern face. Tonio is already seventeen - ahead military service, and then you need to think about your career. Childhood ended - and with it the old golden-haired Tonio disappeared. Antoine grew taller and darker: his hair straightened, his eyes widened, his eyebrows turned black - now he looked like an owlet. A clumsy, shy, poor man, not adapted to independent life, a young man full of love and faith - and the world immediately filled him with bumps.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was drafted into the army. He chose aviation and went to serve in Strasbourg. His mother gave him money for an apartment: one hundred and twenty francs a month (for Madame de Saint-Exupéry this was a very large sum!), and the son had a home. Antoine took a bath, drank coffee and called home on his own phone. Now he had time for leisure, and he could not help but fall in love.

Madame de Vilmorin was a real society lady - a young widow with connections, fortune and great ambitions. Her daughter Louise was famous for her intelligence, education and gentle beauty. True, she was not in good health and spent about a year in bed, but this only added to her charm. Louise, drowning in pillows, received guests in the thinnest peignoir - and the two-meter tall Saint-Exupery completely lost his head. He wrote to his mother that he had met the girl of his dreams, and soon proposed.

Such a match would be ideal for an impoverished aristocrat, but Madame de Vilmorin did not like the future son-in-law. The young man has neither fortune nor profession, but he has more than enough oddities - and her daughter is seriously going to do this stupid thing! Madame Vilmorin did not know her child well: Louise, of course, liked the role of the count's bride, but she was in no hurry to get married. It all ended when Saint-Exupery, who had undertaken to test a new plane without the knowledge of his superiors, crashed to the ground a few minutes after takeoff. He stayed in the hospital for several months, and during this time Louise got tired of waiting and gained new admirers; the girl thought and decided that her mother was probably right.

Saint-Exupéry will remember her all his life. Years passed, but he kept writing to Louise that he still remembered her, that he still needed her... Louise was already living in Las Vegas: her husband, who was engaged in trading, took her there. He disappeared for months on his business, dust storms raged in the town every now and then, and when Louise left the house, the cowboys dismounted and whistled after him. Her life was not a success, and Antoine, by this time famous writer, pestered her with requests for autographs... This seemed like a strange misunderstanding to Louise: her ex-fiancé seemed to her the biggest loser of everyone she knew.

His army service came to an end, and Saint-Exupéry went to Paris. The years that followed became a continuous chain of failures, disappointments and humiliations. He failed the exam at the Naval Academy miserably and, according to the rules established in France, lost the right to higher education. Pointless and fruitless studies in architecture, living at the expense of his mother (this time she rented him a very bad apartment - the family’s money was running out), dinners with friends, breakfasts in cheap cafes and dinners at social events, depressingly monotonous Colettes and Paulettes - soon Antoine was tired and from them, and from myself. He lived like a bird of heaven: having settled with high-society acquaintances, the count could fall asleep in the bathtub, flood the lower floor and, waking up from the furious cry of the hostess, ask her with touching reproach: “Why do you treat me so badly?” Antoine joined the office of a tile factory and, falling asleep in the middle of the working day, scared his colleagues by shouting: “Mom!” Finally, the director's cup of patience ran out, and a descendant of the Knight of the Holy Grail, in whose family the director royal court, archbishops and generals, became a traveling salesman. Both his previous and current work inspired him with deep disgust; Money continued to come from home, and he spent it on private lessons, which he took from professors at the Sorbonne.

And then his mother wrote to Antoine that she would have to sell the castle... And the cute Parisian scoundrel, who considered himself a complete loser, set out on the path that led him to fame.

Didier Dora, director of the Lacoëter airline, recalled how “a tall fellow with a pleasant voice and a concentrated look,” an “offended and disappointed dreamer” who decided to become a pilot, entered his office. Dora sent Comte de Saint-Exupéry to the mechanics, where he began to tinker with the engines with pleasure, getting his hands dirty with grease: for the first time since the castle of Saint-Maurice de Remans, he felt truly happy.

Prayer bench covered with worn red velvet, jug with hot water, a soft bed, his favorite green chair, which he dragged with him everywhere, looking for his mother in the castle, the old park - he dreamed of all this in Paris, and at the Cap Jubi airport, sandwiched by the sands of the Arabian desert, he somehow forgot. He slept on a door placed on two empty boxes, wrote and ate on an overturned barrel, read by the light of a kerosene lamp and lived in harmony with himself - for internal balance he needed a feeling of constant danger and the opportunity to accomplish a feat. Didier Dora was a wise man: he knew that he had better pilots than Exupery, but none of them could lead other people. A variety of people felt at ease and free with Antoine: he was interested in everyone, and he found his own key to everyone. Dora made him the head of the airport in Cap Jubi, and in a submission written a few years later for the Order of the Legion of Honor about Saint-Exupery it was said: “... A pilot of rare courage, an excellent master of his craft, showed remarkable composure and rare dedication, carried out several brilliant operations. Repeatedly flew over the most dangerous areas, searching for the pilots Rene and Serra, who had been captured by hostile tribes. Saved the wounded crew of a Spanish plane that almost fell into the hands of the Moors. Without hesitation, endured the harsh conditions of life in the desert, constantly risking their lives..."

When Saint-Exupéry left for Africa, he had only one published story under his belt. In the desert he began to write: his first novel, “Southern Postal,” brought him fame. He returned to France famous writer- they signed an agreement with him for seven books at once, he got money. He left aviation after his friend and boss Didier Dora lost his job. By this time, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was a married man...

They met in Buenos Aires, where Saint-Exupéry was promoted to technical director of the Aeroposta Argentina company. Consuelo Gomez Carrilo was tiny, frantic, impetuous and fickle - she managed to be married twice (her second husband committed suicide), loved to lie and adored France. At the end of her life, she herself became confused in versions own biography: There are four versions describing their first kiss.

A plane takes off from the Buenos Aires airfield and makes a circle over the city: Saint-Exupéry breaks away from the helm, leans towards Consuelo and asks him to kiss him. In response, the passenger says that: a) she is a widow, b) in her country they kiss only those they love, c) some flowers, if you approach them too sharply, immediately close, d) she has never kissed anyone against her will . Saint-Exupéry threatened to dive into the river, and she kissed him on the cheek - a few months later, Consuelo received an eight-page letter ending with the words: “With your permission, your husband.”

Then she flew to him in Paris. They got married, and soon Antoine was transferred to Casablanca - now he was truly happy. Consuelo was a complete mythomaniac and lied as naturally as she breathed, but she could see in her hat a boa constrictor that had swallowed an elephant... She was charmingly restless and, according to Saint-Exupery’s friends, “in conversation she jumped from topic to topic like a goat ". The essence of this nimble, slightly crazy girl was frivolity and inconstancy, but she had to be looked after and protected. Saint-Exupéry felt in his element: in the castle of Saint-Maurice de Remans he tamed rabbits, in the desert - foxes, gazelles and pumas, now he had to test his gift on this semi-wild, unfaithful, charming creature.

He was sure that he would succeed: Saint-Exupery tamed everyone who surrounded him. Children adored him - he made for them funny paper helicopters and soap bubbles with glycerin that bounced off the ground. Adults loved him, he was famous as a talented hypnotist and a virtuoso card magician; they said that he owed the latter to his unusually dexterous hands, but the solution, meanwhile, lay elsewhere. Antoine instantly understood who was in front of him: a curmudgeon, a hypocrite or a careless good-natured person - and immediately felt what card he would wish for. He was never wrong, his judgments about people were absolutely correct - from the outside, Saint-Exupery seemed like a real magician.

He was unusually kind: when he had money, he lent left and right; when he ran out of money, he lived off his friends. Saint-Exupery could easily come to his friends at half past two in the morning, call his family at five in the morning and start reading the chapter he had just written. They forgave him everything, because he himself would have given his last shirt to his friend. Having matured, he became unusually attractive: wonderful eyes, a figure that seemed to come out of ancient Egyptian frescoes: broad shoulders and narrow hips formed an almost perfect triangle... A man like him could make any woman happy - except Consuela Gomez Carrilo.

The poor thing could not be happy at all: she constantly thirsted for new adventures and was slowly going crazy. This tied Saint-Exupery to her even more: behind the outbursts of causeless anger he saw hidden tenderness, behind betrayal - weakness, behind madness - a vulnerable soul. The rose from The Little Prince was copied from Consuelo - the portrait turned out to be accurate, although highly idealized.

At first, the sight of this couple brought joy to the soul: when Monsieur and Madame de Saint-Exupéry left Casablanca, the local society seemed to be orphaned. And Consuelo came home later and later: she made her own friends, and she became a regular at nightclubs and artistic cafes. It became more and more strange: Countess de Saint-Exupéry could come to a reception in a ski suit and mountain boots. At one of the cocktails, she ducked under the table and spent the whole evening there - only her hand with an empty glass was shown into the light of day from time to time.

The whole of Paris was gossiping about the scandals that were playing out in Saint-Exupéry's house: Antoine did not tell anyone about his personal problems, but Consuelo informed everyone she met about them. The famous plane crash of 1935, when Saint-Exupéry crashed into the sand of the Libyan desert at a speed of 270 kilometers during a flight from Paris to Saigon, was also the result of domestic squabbles: instead of getting enough sleep before the flight, he spent half the night looking for Consuelo in bars. Saint-Exupéry lost his route, fell two hundred kilometers from Cairo, met New Year among the hot sands, walking forward - under the scorching sun, without water and food. He was saved by a randomly encountered Arab caravan. In Paris, enthusiastic newspapermen and an eternally dissatisfied wife were waiting for the winner of the desert.

By the beginning of World War II, Antoine was already a broken man: he was exhausted by his personal life. He sought solace from other women. But he could not leave Consuelo - he loved her, and love is always akin to madness. He could only go to war: in 1940, Saint-Exupery pilots the high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft "Bloch" and again enjoys the speed, freedom and clouds of anti-aircraft shell explosions around his plane.

The front has been broken, German tanks are rushing towards Paris, the roads are clogged with crowds of distraught refugees. Saint-Exupéry transports the old Farman to Algeria, in which, by some miracle, all the pilots of his squadron fit. From Africa he returns to Paris and then emigrates: Antoine cannot live in an occupied country. But even in New York he has no peace - he writes “The Little Prince”, which is very similar to “the last farewell”, does not learn English and yearns for Consuelo. The wife arrives - and hell returns: friends tell how at one of the dinner parties she threw plates at his head for an hour. Saint-Exupéry caught the dishes with a polite smile, not stopping talking for a second - he, as you know, was an excellent storyteller.

Consuelo complained to everyone about his impotence: why should she pay for her husband’s constant accidents and his passion for heights?! But this did not bother other women: Saint-Exupery began affairs with the young actress Natalie Pali, the artist Hedda Sterni, who fled to America from Romania; Young Sylvia Reinhardt was ready to devote her life to him. And although he didn’t know a word of English, and Sylvia didn’t speak French, they still felt good together: she gave him warmth and peace, he read his manuscripts to her, and the girl didn’t care at all about what Consuelo accused her husband of. . Saint-Exupéry spent all his evenings with Sylvia, and at night he returned home and was worried when he did not find Consuelo there - he could not live with her, but he was not able to do without her.

He went to war in the same way as the Little Prince on a journey to other planets - clearly realizing that there was no turning back. The military authorities also understood this, and did everything to prevent Saint-Exupery from sitting at the helm of a reconnaissance aircraft - in aviation his legendary absent-mindedness became the talk of the town. Even in his youth, he flew not by calculation, but by instinct, he forgot to slam the door, retract the landing gear, plugged in an empty gas tank and landed on the wrong paths. But then he was saved by his exceptional inner instinct, which helped him to save himself even in the most hopeless situations, but now he was middle-aged, unhappy and very unhealthy - every trifle turned into torment for him.

The squadron pilots loved Saint-Exupéry as much as anyone who encountered him. They hovered over him like a nanny over a child; he was constantly accompanied to the plane by an anxious escort. They put the overalls on him, but he doesn't look up from the detective, they tell him something, and he, still not letting go of the book, gets on the plane, slams the cockpit door... And the pilots pray that he will put it down at least in the air.

Overweight, groaning in his sleep, with the Order of the Legion of Honor and the Military Cross hanging crookedly, in a shapeless cap - everyone who was around wanted to save him, but Saint-Exupery was too eager to fly into the air.

He demanded that all flights to the Annessy area, where he spent his childhood, remain with him. But none of them went well, and the last flight of Major de Saint-Exupéry ended there. The first time he barely escaped the fighters, the second time he lost his oxygen device and had to descend to a dangerous height for an unarmed reconnaissance officer, the third time one of the engines failed. Before the fourth flight, the fortune teller predicted that he would die in sea water, and Saint-Exupéry, laughingly telling his friends about this, noted that she most likely mistook him for a sailor.

The Messerschmitt pilot, who was patrolling this area, reported that he had shot an unarmed Lightning P-38 (exactly the same as Saint-Exupéry's) - the downed plane turned away, started smoking and crashed into the sea. The Luftwaffe did not count his victory: there were no witnesses to the battle, and the wreckage of the downed plane was not found. And 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, continued to live: he disappeared, dissolved in the Mediterranean azure, went towards the stars - just like his Little Prince...

Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Prayer.

Lord, I ask not for miracles or mirages, but for the strength of every day. Teach me the art of small steps.
Make me observant and resourceful, so that in the diversity of everyday life I can stop in time on discoveries and experiences that excite me.
Teach me how to properly manage the time of my life. Give me a subtle sense to distinguish the primary from the secondary.
I ask for the strength of abstinence and measure, so that I do not flutter and slide through life, but intelligently plan the course of the day, could see the peaks and distances, and at least sometimes find time to enjoy art.
Help me understand that dreams cannot be a help. No dreams of the past, no dreams of the future. Help me to be here and now and perceive this minute as the most important.
Save me from the naive belief that everything in life should be smooth. Give me a clear consciousness that difficulties, defeats, falls and failures are only natural. integral part life, thanks to which we grow and mature.
Remind me that the heart often argues with the mind.
Send me at the right moment someone who has the courage to tell me the truth, but tell it lovingly!
I know that many problems can be solved if nothing is done, so teach me patience.
You know how much we need friendship. Let me be worthy of this most beautiful and tender Gift of Fate.
Give me a rich imagination so that at the right moment, at the right time, in the right place, silently or speaking, to give someone the necessary warmth.
Make me a person who knows how to reach those who are completely “below”.
Save me from the fear of missing out on something in life.
Give me not what I want for myself, but what I really need.
Teach me the art of small steps.

Biography

Andre Maurois

Introduction

Aviator, civil and military pilot, essayist and poet, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, following Vigny, Stendhal, Vauvenargues, together with Malraux, Jules Roy, and several soldiers and sailors, is among the few novelists and philosophers of action that our country has produced . Unlike Kipling, he did not simply admire men of action: he, like Conrad, himself participated in the acts he described. For ten years he flew over the Rio de Oro and over the Andean Cordilleras; he was lost in the desert and was rescued by the lords of the sands; once it fell into the Mediterranean Sea, and another time into the mountain ranges of Guatemala; he fought in the air in 1940 and fought again in 1944. The conquerors of the South Atlantic - Mermoz and Guillaume - were his friends. This is where the authenticity that resounds in his every word comes from, and this is also where life’s stoicism originates, for action reveals best qualities person.

However, Luc Estan, who wrote the excellent book “Saint-Exupery on Himself,” is right when he says that action was never an end in itself for Saint-Exupery. “The plane is not a goal, only a means. You don't risk your life for an airplane. After all, it is not for the sake of the plow that the peasant plows.” And Luc Estan adds: “He plows not just to make furrows, but to sow them. Action is to an airplane what plowing is to a plow. What kind of crops does it promise and what kind of harvest can be harvested?” I believe that the answer to this question is this: the rules of life are what you sow, and the harvest is people. Why? Yes, because a person is able to comprehend only that in which he himself took a direct part. This is where the anxiety that I saw tormented Saint-Exupéry in Algeria in 1943 came from, when he was not allowed to fly. He was losing contact with the earth because he was denied heaven.

Part I. Intermediate stages

Many contemporaries talked about this brief, but full of events life. In the beginning there was Antoine de Saint-Exupery, a “strong, cheerful, open” boy who, at the age of twelve, had already invented an airplane-bicycle and declared that it would fly into the sky to the enthusiastic cries of the crowd “Long live Antoine de Saint-Exupery!” He studied unevenly, glimpses of genius appeared in him, but it was noticeable that this student was not created for schoolwork. His family calls him the Sun King because of the blond hair that crowns his head; his comrades nicknamed Antoine the Stargazer because his nose was turned up to the sky. In fact, he was already the Little Prince, arrogant and absent-minded, “always joyful and fearless.” All his life he maintained a connection with his childhood, he always remained enthusiastic, inquisitive and successfully played the role of a magician, as if expecting enthusiastic exclamations: “Long live Antoine de Saint-Exupery!” And these exclamations were heard. But they only said more often: “Saint-Ex, Antoine or Tonio,” because he invariably became a part of the inner life of all those who knew him or read his books.

Never before, perhaps, has the vocation of an aviator manifested itself more clearly in a person, and never before, perhaps, has it been so difficult for a person to fulfill his calling. Military aviation agreed to enlist him only in the reserve. Only when Saint-Exupéry was twenty-seven years old did civil aviation allow him to become a pilot and then the head of an airfield in Morocco - at a time when this country was torn apart by contradictions: “The Little Prince becomes an important boss.” He publishes the book “Southern Postal” and introduces the sky to literature, which does not prevent him from remaining a brave and energetic pilot, and then technical director of the Aeropostal branch in Buenos Aires - here he works side by side with Mermoz and Guillaume. He gets into numerous and serious accidents. And only by a miracle does he survive. In 1931, he married the widow of the Spanish writer Gomez Carrillo - Consuelo, a native of South America: this woman's fantasy delights the Little Prince. Accidents continue; Either Saint-Ex almost crashes during a monstrous fall, then after an emergency landing he finds himself lost in the sand. And, tormented by debilitating thirst in the very heart of the desert, he feels an urgent need to find the “Planet of People” again!

1939 War breaks out. And although doctors stubbornly admit that Saint-Exupery is completely unfit to fly (a consequence of numerous fractures and concussions), he eventually achieves enrollment in the reconnaissance air group 2/33. During the days of the enemy invasion, after several battles, this group was sent to Algeria and its personnel were demobilized. At the end of the year, Saint-Ex arrives in New York, where we met him. There he wrote the book "Military Pilot", which gained enormous success in the United States, as well as in France, at that time occupied by the enemy. I became attached to him with all my soul and would willingly repeat after Léon-Paul Fargue: “I loved him very much and will always mourn him.” And how could you not love him? He possessed both strength and tenderness, intelligence and intuition. He had a passion for ritual rites, he loved to surround himself with an atmosphere of mystery. His undeniable mathematical talent was combined with a childish desire for play. He either took over the conversation or remained silent, as if mentally transported to some other planet. I visited him on Long Island in the big house that he and Consuelo rented, where he wrote “The Little Prince.” Saint-Exupery worked at night. After lunch he talked, told, showed card tricks, then, towards midnight, when others had gone to bed, he sat down at his desk. I fell asleep. At about two in the morning I was woken up by shouts on the stairs: “Consuelo! Consuelo!.. I’m hungry... Cook me some scrambled eggs.” Consuelo was coming down from her room. Having finally woken up, I joined them, and Saint-Exupery spoke again, and he spoke very well. Having had his fill, he sat down to work again. We tried to fall asleep again. But the sleep was short-lived, because two hours later the whole house was filled with loud cries: “Consuelo! I'm bored. Let's play chess." Then he read to us the pages he had just written, and Consuelo, herself a poet, suggested cleverly invented episodes.

When General Bétoire arrived in the United States to collect arms, both Saint-Ex and I again asked to enlist in the French army in Africa. He left New York a few days before me and, when I got off the plane in Algiers, he was already meeting me at the airport. He looked unhappy. After all, Antoine felt so strongly the bonds that unite people, he always felt to some extent responsible for the fate of France, and now he discovered that the French were divided. The two general staffs opposed each other. He was enlisted in the command reserve and did not know whether he would be allowed to fly. He was already forty-four years old, and he stubbornly and persistently sought to be allowed to fly the P-38 aircraft, a fast car created for younger hearts. In the end, thanks to the intervention of one of Roosevelt's sons, Saint-Exupery received consent to this. And while waiting, he worked on a new book (or poem), which was later called “The Citadel.”

Promoted to the rank of major, he managed to join his dear reconnaissance group 2/33, the "Military Pilot" group, but his superiors, worried for his life, were reluctant to allow him to fly. He was promised five such flights, but he extracted agreement for three more. He did not return from his eighth flight over then-occupied France. He took off at 8:30 a.m. and by 1:30 p.m. he was still missing. The squadron comrades, gathered in the officers' mess, looked at their watches every minute. Now he only had one hour's worth of fuel left. At 14:30 there was no longer any hope left. Everyone remained silent for a long time. Then the squadron commander said to one of the pilots:

"You will complete the task entrusted to Major de Saint-Exupéry."

It all ended as in Saint-Ex's novel, and one could easily imagine that, when he had no more fuel and, perhaps, hope, he, like one of his heroes, rushed the plane upward - towards the heavenly field, densely dotted with stars.

Part II. Laws of action

Laws heroic world are constant, and we have the right to expect that we will find them in the works of Saint-Exupery almost the same as we knew them in Kipling’s stories and stories.

The first law of action is discipline. Discipline requires that a subordinate respect his superior; it also requires that the boss be worthy of such respect and that he, on his part, respect the laws. It’s not easy, not at all easy, to be a boss! “Oh Lord, I lived mighty, alone!” - Moses exclaims from Alfred de Vigny. Rivière, under whose command the pilots in “Night Flight” are, voluntarily withdraws into solitude. He loves his subordinates and has a kind of gloomy tenderness for them. But how can he openly be their friend if he is obliged to be harsh, demanding, ruthless? It is difficult for him to punish, moreover, he knows very well that punishment is sometimes unfair, that a person could not have acted differently. However, only the strictest discipline protects the lives of other pilots and ensures regular service. “Rules,” writes Saint-Exupéry, “are like religious rites: they seem absurd, but they shape people.” Sometimes it is necessary for one person to sacrifice himself to save many others. The boss has a terrible responsibility on his shoulders - to choose a victim, and if he has to sacrifice a friend, he does not even have the right to show his concern: “Love your subordinates, but don’t tell them about it.”

What does a boss give to his people in exchange for their obedience? He gives them "directives"; for them he is like a beacon in the night of action, showing the pilot the way. Life is a storm; life is a jungle; If a person does not fight the waves, if he does not fight the dense interweaving of vines, he is lost. Constantly spurred on by the strong will of his superior, man conquers the jungle. The one who obeys considers the severity of the one who commands him legitimate, if this severity plays the role of permanent and reliable armor, serves to protect his life. “These people... love what they do, and they love it because I'm strict,” Riviere says.

What else does a boss give to the people he commands? He gives them victory, greatness, and a long memory in the hearts of their contemporaries. Contemplating the Inca temple erected on the mountain, which alone survived from lost civilization, Rivière asks himself: “In the name of what severe necessity - or strange love- the leader of the ancient peoples forced crowds of his subjects to erect this temple on the top and thereby forced them to erect an eternal monument to themselves? . To this, some well-meaning person would no doubt answer: “Wouldn’t it be better not to build this temple, but not to make anyone suffer by building it?” However, man is a noble creature, and he loves greatness more than comfort, more than happiness.

But now the order is given, people begin to act, and then, according to the laws of the heroic world, friendship between comrades comes into play. The bonds of common danger, common dedication, common technical means first give birth to this friendship and then support it. “These are the lessons that Mermoz and our other comrades taught us. The greatness of any craft, perhaps, first of all lies in the fact that it unites people: for there is nothing in the world more precious than the bonds that connect man to man.” Work for material wealth? What self-deception! In this way a person acquires only dust and ashes. And this cannot give him something worth living for. “I am going through my most indelible memories, summing up the most important of my experiences - yes, of course, the most significant, the most significant were those hours that all the gold in the world would not have brought me.” A rich man has companions and hangers-on, a powerful man has courtiers, a man of action has comrades, and they are also his friends.

“We were slightly excited, as if at a feast. Meanwhile, we had nothing. Only wind, sand and stars. Harsh poverty in the Trappist spirit. But at this dimly lit table, a handful of people who had nothing left in the whole world but memories, shared invisible treasures.

Finally we met. It happens that you wander side by side with people for a long time, withdrawing into silence or exchanging insignificant words. But now comes the hour of danger. And then we are each other’s support. Then it turns out that we are all members of the same brotherhood. You join in the thoughts of your comrades and become richer. We smile at each other. Thus, the prisoner released is happy with the vastness of the sea.”

Part III. Creation

Can his books be called novels? Hardly. From work to work, the element of fiction in them is increasingly reduced. Rather, this is an essay about action, about people, about the Earth, about life. The scenery almost always depicts an airfield. And the point here is not the writer’s desire to be considered an expert, but his desire for sincerity. After all, this is exactly how the author lives and thinks. Why shouldn’t he describe the world through the prism of his profession, since it is in this way that he, like every pilot, comes into contact with the world around him.

"South Postal" is Saint-Exupéry's most romantic book. Pilot Jacques Bernis, a pilot for the Aeropostal company, returns to Paris and meets his childhood friend there, Genevieve Erlen. Her husband is a mediocre person; her child dies; she loves Bernice and agrees to leave with him. But almost immediately Jacques realizes that they are not made for each other. What is he looking for in life? He is looking for the “treasure” that contains the truth, the “key to unraveling” life. At first he hoped to find it in a woman. Failure. Later, like Claudel, he hoped to find him in Notre-Dame Cathedral, where Bernice went because he felt too unhappy; but this hope also deceived him. Perhaps the key to the solution lies in the craft? And Bernice stubbornly, courageously carries the mail to Dakar, flying over the Rio de Oro. One day the author finds the corpse of Jacques Bernis - the pilot was killed by Arab bullets. But the post office was saved. It will be delivered to Dakar on time.

"Night Flight" refers to the South American period of Saint-Exupéry's life. In order for mail received from Patagonia, from Chile, from Paraguay to arrive in Buenos Aires on time, Aeropostal pilots have to fly at night over endless mountain ranges. If a storm overtakes them there, if they go astray, they are doomed. But their boss, Riviere, knows that such a risk must be taken. Together with Riviere, together with one of the inspectors, Robineau, together with the wife of the pilot Fabien, we monitor the progress of three aircraft during a thunderstorm. One of them, Fabien's plane, goes off course. The chains of the Cordilleras seem to close in front of him. The pilot only has half an hour of fuel left, and he realizes that there is no more hope. And then he rises to the stars, to where there is not a single living creature except himself. The conqueror of the legendary treasures, Fabien, will die. The young woman, the lamp she lit, the dinner she prepared so lovingly will wait for him in vain. Nevertheless, Rivière, who also loved Fabien in his own way, is busy with cold desperation sending mail to Europe. Rivière listens to the transatlantic plane “arising, prophesying, and melting away,” like the menacing tread of an army moving among the stars. Standing in front of the window, Riviere thinks:

“Victory... defeat... these lofty words are devoid of any meaning... Victory weakens the people; defeat awakens new forces in him... Only one thing should be taken into account: the movement of events.

In five minutes the radio operators will raise the airfields. All fifteen thousand kilometers will feel the beat of life; This is the solution to all problems.

The organ melody is already taking off towards the sky: an airplane.

Slowly walking past the secretaries, who bend under his stern gaze, Rivière returns to his work. Rivière the Great, Rivière the Victorious, bearing the burden of his difficult victory.”

Planet of the Humans is a wonderful collection of essays, some of them in novella form. The story is about the first flight over the Pyrenees, about how old, experienced pilots introduce newcomers to the craft, about how during the flight there is a struggle with “the three primordial deities - the mountains, the sea and the storm.” Portraits of the author's comrades: Mermoz, who disappeared into the ocean, Guillaume, who escaped in the Andes thanks to his courage and perseverance... Essay on "Plane and Planet", celestial landscapes, oases, landing in the desert, in the very camp of the Moors, and the story of that day, when, lost in the Libyan sands, as if in thick tar, the author himself almost died of thirst. But the plots themselves mean little; what is more important is that a person who surveys the planet of people from such a height knows: “Only the Spirit, touching the clay, creates Man from it.” Over the past twenty years, too many writers have buzzed our ears with talk of human weaknesses. Finally there is a writer who tells us about his greatness. “By God, I managed to do something,” exclaims Guillaume, “that no beast could do!” .

Finally, "Military Pilot". This book was written by Saint-Exupery after a short campaign - and defeat - in 1940... During the German offensive in France, Captain de Saint-Exupery and the crew of an airplane are ordered by their superior, Major Alias, to make a reconnaissance flight over Arras. It is quite possible that during this flight they will meet death, a useless death, since they are tasked with collecting information that they will no longer be able to convey to anyone - the roads will be hopelessly clogged, telephone communications will be interrupted, General base will move to another place. Giving the order, Major Alias himself knows that this order is meaningless. But what can we say? It never occurs to anyone to complain. The subordinate replies: “Yes, Mr. Major... That’s right, Mr. Major...” - and the crew sets off to carry out the mission that has become useless.

The book consists of the pilot's reflections during the flight to Arras, and then during his return in the midst of enemy shells exploding around him and enemy fighters hovering above him. These thoughts are sublime. “That’s right, Mr. Major...” Why does Major Alias send his subordinates, who are at the same time his friends, to a senseless death? Why are thousands of young people willing to die in a battle that appears to have already been lost? Because they understand that by participating in this hopeless battle, they are maintaining discipline in the army and strengthening the unity of France. They know well that they will not succeed in a few minutes, having made several heroic deeds and by sacrificing several lives, turn the vanquished into winners. But they also know that defeat can be turned into a starting point on the path to the revival of the nation. Why are they fighting? What motivates them? Despair? Not at all.

“There is a truth higher than all the arguments of reason. Something penetrates us and controls us, to which I obey, but which I have not yet been able to understand. The tree has no tongue. We are the branches of the tree. There are obvious truths, although they cannot be expressed in words. I am not dying to delay the invasion, because there is no fortress in which I could hide with those I love and resist. I do not die to save my honor, because I do not believe that anyone’s honor has been harmed - I reject judges. And I'm not dying of despair. And yet I know: Dutertre, who is now looking at the map, will calculate that Arras is somewhere there, at an heading angle of one hundred and seventy-five degrees, and in half a minute he will tell me:

Course one hundred and seventy-five, Mr. Captain...

And I will take this course."

This is how the French pilot thought while awaiting death over Arras in flames; and as long as such people have such thoughts and as long as they express them in such sublime language, French civilization will not perish. “I obey, Mr. Major...” Saint-Ex and his comrades will not say anything else. “Tomorrow we won’t say anything either. Tomorrow, for witnesses, we will be defeated. And the vanquished must remain silent. Like grains."

You feel utter amazement that there were critics who considered this wonderful book “defeatist.” But I don’t know of another book that would inspire greater faith in the future of France.

“Defeat... Victory... (the author repeats after Riviere). I'm not good with these formulas. There are victories that fill you with inspiration, and there are others that humiliate you. Some defeats bring death, others awaken to life. Life manifests itself not in states, but in actions. The only victory that I have no doubt about is the victory inherent in the power of the grain. The grain thrown into the black soil has already won. But time must pass before the hour of his triumph in the ripened wheat comes.”

The French seeds will germinate. They have already sprouted since the time when “The Military Pilot” was written, and a new harvest is approaching. And France, which has suffered for a long time, waiting patiently new spring, retains her gratitude to Saint-Exupéry for never renouncing her.

“Since I am inseparable from my people, I will never renounce them, no matter what they do. I will never accuse them in front of outsiders. If I can take them under my protection, I will protect them. If they cover me with shame, I will hide this shame in my heart and remain silent. No matter what I thought about them then, I will never act as a witness for the prosecution...

That is why I do not relieve myself of responsibility for the defeat, because of which I will feel humiliated more than once. I am inseparable from France. France brought up the Renoirs, Pascals, Pasteurs, Guillaumes, Hoschedes. She also raised idiots, politicians and swindlers. But it seems too convenient to me to proclaim my solidarity with some and deny any kinship with others.

Defeat splits. Defeat destroys the unity that has been built. This threatens us with death; I will not contribute to such a division by shifting the responsibility for the defeat to those of my compatriots who think differently than me. Such disputes lead nowhere without judges. We were all defeated..."

Recognizing one's own, and not just someone else's, responsibility for defeat is not defeatism; this is justice. Calling the French to unity that will make future greatness possible is not defeatism; this is patriotism. “Military pilot” will undoubtedly remain in history French literature a book as significant as Slavery and the Greatness of the Soldier.

Of course, I won’t even try to “explain” The Little Prince. This "children's" book for adults is full of symbols, and its symbols are beautiful because they seem both transparent and hazy. The main virtue of a work of art is that it expresses itself, independent of abstract concepts. Cathedral does not need comments, just as the starry firmament does not need annotations. I admit that The Little Prince is a kind of embodiment of Tonio the child. But just as Alice in Wonderland was both a fairy tale for girls and a satire on Victorian society, so the poetic melancholy of The Little Prince contains a whole philosophy. “The king is listened to here only in those cases when he orders something to be done that would have happened without it; The lamplighter is respected here because he is busy with business, and not with himself; the business man is ridiculed here because he believes that one can “own” stars and flowers; The fox here allows itself to be tamed in order to distinguish the steps of its owner among thousands of others. “You can only learn things that you tame,” says the Fox. - People buy things ready-made in stores. But there are no such shops where friends would trade, and therefore people no longer have friends.”

"The Little Prince" is the creation of a wise and gentle hero who had many friends.

Now we should talk about The Citadel, Saint-Exupery's posthumously published book: he left many sketches and notes for it, but he did not have enough time to polish the work and work on its composition. That's why it's so difficult to judge this book. The author himself undoubtedly gave "The Citadel" great importance. It was like a conclusion, an appeal, a testament. Georges Pelissier, who was a close friend of Saint-Ex in Algeria, argues that in this work one should see the quintessence of the writer’s thoughts; he tells us that the first draft was entitled “The Lord of the Berbers” and at one time Saint-Exupéry wanted to call this prose poem “Kaid”, but then returned to the original version of the title “Citadel”. Another of the writer’s friends, Leon Werth, writes: “The text of The Citadel is just a shell. And the most external one. This is a collection of notes recorded using a voice recorder, oral notes, quick notes... “Citadel” is an improvisation.”

Others were more reserved. Luc Estan, who so admires Saint-Exupéry, the author of Night Flight and Planet of the Humans, admits that he does not accept “this monotonous recitative of the Eastern patriarchal ruler.” But this “monotonous recitative” takes up hundreds of pages. It seems that sand is flowing inexorably: “You pick up a handful of sand: beautiful sparkles sparkle, but they immediately disappear in a monotonous flow in which the reader gets bogged down. Attention dissipates: admiration gives way to boredom.” This is true. The very nature of the work is fraught with danger. There is something artificial in the fact that a modern Western European adopts the tone inherent in the book of Job. The Gospel parables are sublime, but they are laconic and full of mystery, while The Citadel is drawn out and didactic. In this book, of course, there is something from “Zarathustra” and Lamennais’ “Speeches of the Believer”, of course, its philosophy remains the philosophy of the “Military Pilot”, but there is no vital core in it.

And yet the sparkles remaining in the crucible after reading this book are from pure gold. Its theme is highly characteristic of Saint-Exupery. The old lord of the desert, who shares his wisdom and experience with us, was a former nomad. He then realized that man can only find peace if he builds his citadel. A person feels the need for his own shelter, in his own field, in a country that he can love. A pile of bricks and stones is nothing; it lacks the soul of an architect. The citadel arises primarily in the human heart. It is woven from memories and rituals. And the most important thing is to remain faithful to this citadel, “for I will never decorate the temple if I begin to build it anew every moment.” If a person tears down walls, wanting to gain freedom thereby, he himself becomes like a “dilapidated fortress.” And then he is overcome by anxiety, because he ceases to feel his real existence. “My possessions are not herds, fields, houses or mountains, this is something completely different, this is what dominates them and binds them together.”

Both the citadel and the dwelling are bound by the bonds of certain relationships. “And rituals occupy the same place in time as a dwelling occupies in space.” It is good when time also represents a kind of structure and a person gradually moves from holiday to holiday, from anniversary to anniversary, from one vintage to another. Already Auguste Comte, and after him Alain, argued for the importance of ceremonies and solemn rituals, because without this, they believed, human society cannot exist. “I am re-establishing the hierarchy,” says the lord of the desert. - I will transform today's injustice into tomorrow's justice. And in this way I ennoble my kingdom.” Saint-Exupery, like Valéry, praises conventions. For if you destroy conventions and forget about them, a person again becomes a savage. The “obnoxious talker” reproaches the cedar for not being a palm tree, he would like to destroy everything around him and strives for chaos. “However, life resists disorder and spontaneous tendencies.”

The same severity applies to matters of love. “I lock a woman in marriage and command that the unfaithful spouse caught in adultery be stoned.” Of course, he understands that a woman is a trembling creature, she is completely in the grip of a painful desire to be tender and therefore calls out for love in the darkness of the night. But it will be in vain for her to move from tent to tent, for not a single man can satisfy her desires completely. And if so, why allow her to change her spouse? “I save only that woman who does not break the ban and gives vent to her feelings only in her dreams. I save the one who loves not love in general, but only the man whose appearance embodied love for her.” A woman must also build a citadel in her heart.

Who commands this? Lord of the Desert. And who commands the lord of the desert? Who dictates to him this respect for conventions and strong ties? “Stubbornly I went up to God to ask him about the meaning of things. But at the top of the mountain I found only a heavy block of black granite, which was the god.” And he prays to God to enlighten him. However, the granite block remains impenetrable. And it must remain like this forever. A God who allows himself to be pitied is no longer a god. “He is no longer a god even when he listens to prayer. For the first time in my life, I realized that the greatness of prayer lies primarily in the fact that it does not find an answer, in the fact that this communication between the believer and God is not overshadowed by an unsightly transaction. And the lesson of prayer is a lesson of silence. And love arises only when the gift is no longer expected. Love is first of all an exercise in prayer, and prayer is an exercise in silence.”

Here, perhaps, the last word mystical heroism.

Part IV. Philosophy

There were people who would like Saint-Exupery to be content with being a writer, a heavenly traveler, and they said: “Why is he constantly trying to philosophize when he is not a philosopher at all.” But I just like that Saint-Exupery philosophizes.

“You have to think with your hands,” Denis de Rougemont once wrote. The pilot thinks with the help of his whole body and with the help of his aircraft. The most beautiful image created by Saint-Exupéry, even more beautiful than the image of Rivière, is the image of a man whose courage is filled with such simplicity that talking about him courageous actions it would be funny.

“Oshede is a former sergeant who was recently promoted to second lieutenant. Of course, he lacks education. There was no way he could explain himself. But he is coherent, he is whole. When it comes to Hosheda, the word “duty” loses all pompousness. Everyone would like to perform their duty the way Oshede does it. Thinking about Osheda, I reproach myself for my negligence, laziness, negligence and, above all, for my moments of disbelief. And this is not about my virtue: I just envy Osheda in a good way. I would like to exist to the same extent that Hoshede exists. A tree that has its roots deep in the soil is beautiful. Hoshede's tenacity is wonderful. You cannot be deceived in Osheda.”

Courage cannot arise from a cleverly composed speech, it is born from a kind of inspiration that becomes action. Courage is real fact. The tree is a real fact. The landscape is a real fact. We could mentally separate these concepts into their component parts by resorting to analysis, but this would be a waste of time and would only damage them... For Oshede, being a volunteer is completely natural.

Saint-Exupéry disdains abstract thinking. He has little faith in various ideological constructs. He would willingly repeat after Alain: “For me, every proof is flawed in advance.” How can abstract concepts contain the truth about a person?

“The truth does not lie on the surface. If on this soil, and not on any other, orange trees take strong roots and bear generous fruits, then for orange trees this soil is the truth. If it is this religion, this culture, this measure of things, this form of activity, and not any other, that gives a person a feeling of spiritual fullness, a power that he did not suspect in himself, then it is precisely this measure of things, this culture, this form activity is the truth of man. What about common sense? His job is to explain life, let him get out of it any way he wants...”

What is truth? Truth is not a doctrine or a dogma. It cannot be achieved by joining any sect, school or party. “The truth of a man is what makes him a man.”

“To understand a person, his needs and aspirations, to comprehend his very essence, you do not need to oppose your obvious truths to each other. Yes you are right. You are all right. Logically you can prove anything. Even the one who thinks to blame the hunchbacks for all the misfortunes of mankind is right. It is enough to declare war on the hunchbacks - and we will immediately flare up with hatred towards them. We will begin to take cruel revenge on the hunchbacks for all their crimes. And among the hunchbacks, of course, there are also criminals...

Why argue about ideologies? Any of them can be supported by evidence, and they all contradict each other, and from these disputes you only lose all hope of saving people. But people around us, everywhere and everywhere, strive for the same thing.

We want freedom. Anyone who works with a pickaxe wants every blow of the pickaxe to have meaning. When a convict uses a pickaxe, each blow only humiliates the convict, but if the pickaxe is in the hands of a prospector, each blow elevates the prospector. Hard labor is not where they work with a pickaxe. It's not terrible because it's hard work. Hard labor is where the blows of a pickaxe are meaningless, where labor does not connect a person with people.”

He who has created such a relative idea of truth cannot reproach other people because their beliefs are different from his own. If the truth for each is that which exalts him, then you and I, although we worship different gods, can feel closeness to each other through a common passion for greatness, through our common love for the very feeling of love. Intelligence is only worth something when it serves love.

“We have been deceived for too long about the role of intelligence. We have neglected the essence of man. We believed that the cunning machinations of base souls could contribute to the triumph of a noble cause, that clever selfishness could inspire self-sacrifice, that hardness of heart and idle chatter could establish brotherhood and love. We have neglected the essence. Cedar grain will somehow turn into cedar. The grain of the thorn will turn into a thorn. From now on, I refuse to judge people by the reasons that justify their decisions ... "

One should not ask of a person, “What doctrine does he hold?” What etiquette does he follow? Which party does he belong to? The main thing is: “What kind of person is he?”, and not what kind of individual he is. For what counts is the person belonging to one or another social group, country, civilization. The French inscribed on the pediments of their public buildings: “Liberty, equality, fraternity.” They were right: it's a great motto. But on this condition, adds Saint-Exupery, if they realize that people can be free, equal and can feel like brothers only if someone or something unites them.

“What does it mean to free? If in the desert I free a man who is not striving anywhere, what will his freedom cost? Freedom exists only for someone who is striving somewhere. To free a man in the desert means to arouse thirst in him and show him the way to the well. Only then will his actions make sense. There is no point in freeing a stone if gravity does not exist. Because the freed stone will not move.”

In the same sense, we can say: “The soldier and his commander are equal in the nation.” Believers were equal in God.

“Expressing God, they were equal in their rights. While serving God, they were equal in their duties.

I understand why equality in God did not entail any controversy or disorder. Demagoguery arises when, in the absence of a common faith, the principle of equality degenerates into the principle of identity. Then the soldier refuses to salute the commander, because honoring the commander would mean honoring the individual, not the Nation.”

And finally, brotherhood.

“I understand the origin of brotherhood between people. People were brothers in God. You can only be brothers in something. If there is no knot tying people together, they will be placed next to each other rather than connected. You can't just be brothers. My comrades and I are brothers in group 2/33. The French are brothers in France."

To sum up: the life of a man of action is full of danger; death awaits him all the time; there is no absolute truth; however, sacrifice shapes people who will become masters of the world, for they are masters of themselves. This is the stern philosophy of the pilot. It is surprising that he extracts some form of optimism from it. Writers who spend their lives behind a desk, with the heat of their soul slowly cooling, become pessimists because they are isolated from other people. A man of action is ignorant of egoism, because he recognizes himself as part of a group of comrades. A fighter disdains the pettiness of people, because he sees an important goal in front of him. Those who work together, those who share common responsibility with others, rise above hostility.

Saint-Exupéry's lesson is still a living lesson. “It will seem to you that I am dying, but this is not true,” says the Little Prince; he also says: “And when you are consoled (you are always consoled in the end), you will be glad that you once knew me. You will always be my friend."

We are glad that we knew him once; and we will always be his friends.

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 Prevost, dying of thirst, were rescued by Bedouins.

Saint-Exupery made several combat missions on 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

“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).

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:

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.

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.
Crime and Punishment. Article. Translations into Russian: Kuzmin D.
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 - US National Book Award - “Wind, Sand and Stars” (“Planet of Men”).

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 “A 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