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Vélizy-Villacoublay's famous aviators / Antoine de Saint Exupéry
This French writer, poet and aviator, widely known as Saint-Ex, was born on June 29, 1900 in Lyon. He trained at Vélizy-Villacoublay.
Between 1923 and 1926, he formed part of the great line of pioneers of the French air mail service between France and South America, alongside Mermoz, Guillaumet, Serre and Collenot. Today, we owe the now famous names of Villa-Cisneros and Cap Juby to him.
He was also one of the greatest writers of his time, penning "Night Flight", "Southern Mail" and "Wind, Sand and Stars". He believed that writing certain books required them to be lived out. He died as he had hoped to. He was reported missing during the 1939-1945 war during a reconnaissance flight between Corsica and Italy. Was he shot down by a German plane, or did he crash due to equipment failure? Nobody will ever know.
