Born in Lyon on 29 June 1900, Saint-Exupéry was an aviator who flew the mail over North Africa and the Andes. He won awards for several of his novels, but is best-known today for the allegorical children's book The Little Prince, the story of a pilot who crashes in the desert and meets the Little Prince. The fairytale has its roots in the author's own experiences: in 1935 he had an accident in the desert of North Africa, walking for days before he was rescued.