Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's Birthday
Next: June 29, 2027
For the child in every grown-up.
The story
Where it comes from
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was born in Lyon, France, on 29 June 1900, and this Story marks his birthday. He became one of the pioneers of airmail flying and turned his life as a pilot into books such as Night Flight (1931) and Wind, Sand and Stars (1939). After France fell in 1940 he went to New York, where he wrote a short fable about a pilot stranded in the desert and a little prince from another planet. The Little Prince was published there in 1943. He died on a reconnaissance flight in July 1944.
How it's celebrated
There is no formal observance, but his birthday is a lovely excuse to read The Little Prince again, aloud if you can. Britannica calls it a child's fable for adults, so it suits every age. The Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation carries his name forward by supporting new translations of the book, especially into languages at risk of disappearing.
Did you know
- The Little Prince is the world's most translated work of fiction; its 600th translation, in the language of the Guna people of Panama, was presented in 2024.
- In December 1935 he crashed in the Libyan desert during a record attempt from Paris to Saigon, in today's Vietnam, and walked for three days before a Bedouin caravan found him and his mechanic.
- The book first appeared in New York in 1943, in both French and English, with his own illustrations.
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