Who wrote the 1943 novella The Little Prince?

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote the 1943 novella The Little Prince.

Saint-Exupéry was a French writer, poet, aviator, and pioneering airmail pilot. The Little Prince was first published in New York in 1943, in both French and English editions. Saint-Exupéry also created the book’s watercolor illustrations, which are central to its identity.

The story follows a pilot stranded in the Sahara who meets a mysterious young visitor from a tiny asteroid. Through the prince’s encounters with adults on other asteroids and his relationship with a fox on Earth, the book explores friendship, responsibility, loneliness, and the limits of adult reasoning.

The novella is often described as a children’s book, but its philosophical themes have attracted readers of all ages. Saint-Exupéry disappeared during a reconnaissance flight in 1944. The Little Prince has since been translated into hundreds of languages and is among the most widely translated books in the world.