Close to
the Invalides (see previous posts) there is since 1865 a little square called
“Square Santiago-du-Chili” - the Chilean
Embassy is quite close. It’s a very calm little corner for a little rest. A few of the trees are some 150 years old.
Since 1989 there is the bust of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (by Madeleine Tézenas
de Montcel).
Antoine de
Saint-Exupéry (1900-44) was a writer, poet, journalist and also a famous aviator,
however maybe best known for having
written and illustrated “Le Petit Prince” (The Little Prince).
He opened and worked on airmail routes in Europe, Africa and South America until WW II, when he joined
the French Air Force until the surrender in 1940. He then left for the US, during
about two years campaigning for the US entry into the war … and writing, before
joining the French Free Air Force in North Africa … and disappearing over the
Mediterranean during a reconnaissance mission in July 1944.
Antoine de
Saint-Exupéry wrote a lot, had several books published during the 30’s and the
40’s, some with great public success and winning awards like that of the French
Academy, the US National Book Award… “The Little Prince”, illustrated by himself, was published in the US in 1943 and in France immediately after
the war. It has been translated to some 250 languages and sold in some 140 million
copies (one of the bestselling books ever), not mentioning recordings, stage,
screen, ballet, opera adaptations.
Why is the
bust here at the ”Square Santiago-du-Chili”? Maybe because of Saint-Exupéry’s
involvement in opening airborne postal service all the way down to Chile.