Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry

File:The young Consuelo Suncin Sandoval Zeceña de Saint –Exupéry.jpg

Born Consuelo Suncín de SandovalSeverson (2004), p. [https://archive.org/details/masterpiecesoffr0000seve/page/159 159] as the daughter of a rich coffee grower and army reservist, she grew up in a family of wealthy landowners in a small town in the Salvadoran department of Sonsonate. Due to her asthma, her father sent her abroad to the United States, where she studied in San Francisco; later she studied in Mexico City, and France.

Her first marriage was to a Mexican army captain, Ricardo Cárdenas, whom she met in the United States. Though this marriage ended in divorce, she lied and said it ended with his death during the Mexican Revolution, since divorced women were then stigmatized by society, and being a widow was preferable to being a divorced woman.Webster, Paul. [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/jun/24/biography.books Flying Into A Literary Storm: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Author Of The Little Prince, Was Born 100 Years Ago. The Celebrations, However, Have Been Marred By His Widow's Bitter Account Of Their Marriage], London: The Guardian, June 24, 2000. While in France, she met and later married Enrique Gómez Carrillo, a Guatemalan writer, diplomat and journalist. Following his death in 1927, she took up residence in Buenos Aires.

In 1931 in Buenos Aires, she met and married the French aristocrat, writer and pioneering aviator Count Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, making her a countess. At the time Consuelo was a once-divorced, once-widowed Salvadoran writer and artist who possessed a bohemian spirit and was known as a mischief-maker.{{cite book|last=Curtis|first=Cate|title=André Malraux: a biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iDnlAAAAMAAJ&q=cuckolding|date=1 April 1997|publisher=Fromm International Pub. Corp.|isbn=978-0-88064-171-5|page=180}} Saint-Exupéry, thoroughly enchanted by the diminutive woman, would leave and then return to her many times; she was both his muse and over the long term the source of much of his angst. It was a stormy union, with Saint-Exupéry travelling frequently and indulging in numerous extramarital affairs, most notably with the Frenchwoman Hélène de Vogüé (1908–2003), known as 'Nelly' and referred to as "Madame de B." in Saint-Exupéry biographies.[http://www.antoinedesaintexupery.com/nelly-de-vog%C3%BC%C3%A9-1908-%E2%80%93-2003 "Biography: Nelly de Vogüé (1908 – 2003)."] AntoinedeSaintExupery.com. Retrieved: May 23, 2012.

Consuelo also had numerous extramarital affairs.Carrol, Tim. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3664810/Secret-love-of-a-Renaissance-man.html Secret Love of a Renaissance Man], The Telegraph, April 30, 2007.Schiff, Stacy. [https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/06/25/bookend/bookend.html "Bookend: Par Avion."] The New York Times, 25 June 2000. Following the disappearance of her husband in July 1944, with her loss of Saint-Exupéry still fresh, she purportedly wrote a memoir of their life together, The Tale of the Rose, which was sealed away in a trunk in her home. Two decades after her death in 1979, the manuscript came to light when José Martinez-Fructuoso, her heir and long-time employee, and his wife, Martine, discovered it in an attic trunk. Alain Vircondelet, author of a biography of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, edited it, improving her French and dividing it into chapters. Its publication in France in 2000, one century after Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's birth on 29 June 1900, became a national sensation. As of 2011 it had been translated into sixteen languages.

Consuelo died on 28 May 1979 and is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, alongside her second husband Enrique Gómez Carrillo.

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Despite their tumultuous relationship, Antoine kept Consuelo close to his heart. Consuelo, who suffers from asthma, is the likely inspiration for the major character in The Little Prince, the prince's petulant, vain, but fragile 'flower', identified as The Rose,Reif, Rita. "A Charming Prince Turns 50, His Luster Intact", The New York Times, 19 September 1993.El Diario de Hoy, "[https://www.elsalvador.com/entretenimiento/cultura/consuelo-suncin-la-salvadorena-que-inspiro-el-principito/468997/2018/ Consuelo Suncín, La Salvadoreña que inspiró el Principito]", 8 April 2018.Webster, Paul (1993) [https://books.google.com/books?id=LaEbAQAAIAAJ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: The Life And Death Of The Little Prince], London: Pan Macmillan, 1993, pp. 248–251, {{ISBN|978-0-333-61702-1}}. whom he protects under glass and with a windscreen on his tiny planet which is named Asteroid B-612.

Saint-Exupéry's infidelity and doubts about his marriage are symbolised by the field of roses the Prince encounters during his visit to Earth. In the novella, The Fox tells The Prince that his Rose is unique and special, because she is the one whom he loves.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

The Prince's home asteroid also possesses three tiny volcanoes, likely inspired by the three volcanoes in the Cordillera de Apaneca volcanic range complex, which are directly visible from Consuelo's home town of Armenia, El Salvador.{{Cite web|title=El Salvador and "The Little Prince"|url=http://elsalvadorch.weebly.com/el-salvador-and-the-little-prince.html|access-date=2021-08-31|website=El Salvador}} Consuelo's home country is also known as the "Land of Volcanoes".{{cite web |title= Fast Facts: Republic of El Salvador |website= Nat Geo Kids |date= 21 March 2014 |publisher= National Geographic Partners, LLC |url= https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/geography/countries/article/el-salvador |access-date=22 January 2021}} The two active volcanoes were inspired by the Santa Ana Volcano and the famous conical-shaped Izalco, which was likely spewing ash and lava when Antoine visited El Salvador.Global Volcanism Program, 2013. [https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=343030 Izalco] (343030) in [https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.VOTW4-2013 Volcanoes of the World], v. 4.8.0. Venzke, E (ed.). Smithsonian Institution. Accessed 3 June 2019. The dormant volcano is Cerro Verde.[http://www.mitur.gob.sv/travel/parque-natural-cerro-verde Parque Natural Cerro Verde], Ministerio de Turismo de El Salvador, accessed 3 June 2019.

Image:Green Izalco Volcano.JPG. At the time Antoine visited Consuelo's home town, Izalco was active spewing ash and lava.]]

Antoine's 1939 memoir, Wind, Sand and Stars (Terre des hommes), was employed to create the central theme—Terre des hommes/Man and his world—of the 1967 International World's Fair in Montreal, Canada, Expo 67. The Countess de Saint Exupéry, Consuelo, was a guest of honour at the official opening ceremonies of the world's fair.

Krôller, Eva-Marie. [http://canlit.ca/site/getPDF/article/11882 Expo '67: Canada's Camelot?]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Canadian Literature, Spring–Summer 1997, Iss. 152–153, pp. 36–51.

Actress Janet Waldo was the voice for The Rose in the animated TV series "The Adventures of the Little Prince". Singer Máiréad Carlin played The Rose in The Little Prince musical.

Consuelo's relationship with Antoine was portrayed by Miranda Richardson and Bruno Ganz in the 1996 biopic Saint-Ex. The film combines elements of biography, documentary, and dramatic re-creation.{{cite book |last= Allon |first= Yoram |author2= Del Cullen |author3= Hannah Patterson |title= Contemporary British and Irish Film Directors: A Wallflower Critical Guide |publisher= Wallflower |series= Wallflower Critical Guides |year= 2001 |location= London |pages= 334 |isbn= 978-1903364222 }} Consuelo is also a major character in the forthcoming historical novel Studio Saint-Ex by Ania Szado. The book examines Consuelo and Antoine's time in New York City during World War II while Antoine is writing The Little Prince.

; Footnotes

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; Citations

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; Bibliography

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• Commire, Anne. [https://books.google.com/books?id=3WoYAAAAIAAJ Something about the Author] in Volume 20 of Something about the Author: Facts and Pictures about Contemporary Authors and Illustrators of Books for Young People, Gale Research Company, 1980, {{ISBN|0-8103-0053-2}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8103-0053-8}}
• {{cite news |last= Cotsalas |first= Valerie |url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03E7D61739F933A2575AC0A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |title= The Little Prince: Born in Asharoken |work=The New York Times |date= 10 September 2000 |access-date= 14 September 2010 }}
• Saint-Exupéry, Consuelo de; Allen, Esther (translator) [https://books.google.com/books?id=OarX1V7Mh6cC The Tale of the Rose: The Love Story Behind The Little Prince], New York: Random House, 2000, {{ISBN|978-0-8129-6717-3}}.
• {{cite book |last1= Schiff |first1= Stacy |author-link1= Stacy Schiff |title= Saint-Exupéry: A biography |year= 2006 |orig-year= 1994 |publisher= Henry Holt |location= New York |edition = Reprinted |isbn= 978-0-8050-7913-5 }}
• {{cite book|last=Severson|first=Marilyn S.|title=Masterpieces of French Literature: Greenwood Introduces Literary Masterpieces|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2004|isbn=978-0-313-31484-1|url=https://archive.org/details/masterpiecesoffr0000seve|url-access=registration}}

{{refend}}

• {{cite book |last= Vircondelet |first= Alain |title= O Consuelo |year= 2000 |language= fr}}
• {{cite book |last= Suncín |first= Abigaíl |title= La rosa que cautivó al principito : Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry |year= 2003 |language= es}}
• {{cite book |last= Vircondelet |first= Alain |title= Antoine et Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry : un amour de légende |year= 2005 |language= fr}}
• {{cite book |last= Vircondelet |first= Alain |title= C'étaient Antoine et Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry |year= 2009 |language= fr}}
• {{cite book |last1= Carbonel |first1= Marie-Hélène |last2= Fransioli Martinez |first2= Martine |title= Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry, une mariée vêtue de noir |year= 2010 |language= fr}}

• [http://consuelo-de-saint-exupery.com/biographie/ A biography of Consuelo de Saint Exupéry]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100921151030/http://mitiaconsuelo.com/ A website dedicated to Mme Consuelo de Saint.Exupéry]

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{{Antoine de Saint-Exupéry}}

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Category:1901 births

Category:1979 deaths

Category:Deaths from asthma

Category:Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery

Category:French countesses

Category:People from Sonsonate Department

Consuelo

Category:Salvadoran artists

Category:Salvadoran people of Indigenous peoples descent

Category:Salvadoran women writers

Category:20th-century French memoirists

Category:20th-century French women writers