Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry
Encyclopedia
Consuelo de Saint Exupéry (born Armenia
, El Salvador
, April 10, 1901—died Grasse
, France
, May 28, 1979) was a Salvadoran
-French
writer and artist, and wife of the famous writer and aviator Antoine de Saint Exupéry.
Born Consuelo Suncín Sandoval Zeceña in a small town in El Salvador to a family of wealthy landowners, she studied abroad in San Francisco
, in Mexico City
, and in France
. While in France, she met and later married Enrique Gómez Carrillo
, a Guatemala
n diplomat and journalist. Following his death in 1927, she took up residence in Buenos Aires
.
In 1931, she met and married Saint Exupéry and moved back to France with him. Their marriage was a turbulent one, as he was constantly away on flying missions and adventures and had numerous extramarital affairs.
Following the disappearance of her husband in 1944, with the pain of her loss still fresh in her heart, she wrote a memoir of their life together called The Tale of the Rose, which she sealed away in a trunk in her home. Two decades after her death in 1979, the manuscript finally came to light when José Martinez-Fructuoso, who was her heir and worked for her for many years, and his wife, Martine, discovered it in the trunk. Alan 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, a full century after Antoine de Saint Exupéry's birth on June 29, 1900, became a national sensation. It has been translated into sixteen languages.
She is buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery
in Paris
.
Her relationship with her husband was portrayed by Bruno Ganz
and Miranda Richardson
in the movie Saint-Ex
.
Armenia, Sonsonate
Armenia is a municipality in the Sonsonate department of El Salvador.The current mayor is Carlos Rivera Molina . Molina was first elected in 2002, taking the place of Moises Alvarado of the FMLN, and was re-elected to a second term in March 2006....
, El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
, April 10, 1901—died Grasse
Grasse
-See also:*Route Napoléon*Ancient Diocese of Grasse*Communes of the Alpes-Maritimes department-External links:*...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, May 28, 1979) was a Salvadoran
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
-French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
writer and artist, and wife of the famous writer and aviator Antoine de Saint Exupéry.
Born Consuelo Suncín Sandoval Zeceña in a small town in El Salvador to a family of wealthy landowners, she studied abroad in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, and in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. While in France, she met and later married Enrique Gómez Carrillo
Enrique Gómez Carrillo
Enrique Gómez Carrillo was a Guatemalan literary critic, writer, journalist and diplomat...
, a Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
n diplomat and journalist. Following his death in 1927, she took up residence in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
.
In 1931, she met and married Saint Exupéry and moved back to France with him. Their marriage was a turbulent one, as he was constantly away on flying missions and adventures and had numerous extramarital affairs.
Following the disappearance of her husband in 1944, with the pain of her loss still fresh in her heart, she wrote a memoir of their life together called The Tale of the Rose, which she sealed away in a trunk in her home. Two decades after her death in 1979, the manuscript finally came to light when José Martinez-Fructuoso, who was her heir and worked for her for many years, and his wife, Martine, discovered it in the trunk. Alan 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, a full century after Antoine de Saint Exupéry's birth on June 29, 1900, became a national sensation. It has been translated into sixteen languages.
She is buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Her relationship with her husband was portrayed by Bruno Ganz
Bruno Ganz
Bruno Ganz is a Swiss actor, known for his roles as Damiel in Wings of Desire and Adolf Hitler in Downfall.- Early life :Bruno Ganz was born in Zürich to a Swiss mechanic father and a northern Italian mother. He had decided to pursue an acting career by the time he entered university...
and Miranda Richardson
Miranda Richardson
Miranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
in the movie Saint-Ex
Saint-Ex
Saint-Ex is a 1997 British film biography of French author-adventurer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, filmed and distributed in the United Kingdom, and featuring Bruno Ganz, Eleanor Bron, and Miranda Richardson. The script was by Frank Cottrell Boyce, while the writer's sons, Aidan and George, portrayed...
.