Previously unseen photos of Saint-Exupéry

Four photos, thought to be even later than those taken by journalist John Philips, have been donated to the Angers-Marcé aviation museum. Their former owner, now deceased, was fellow-pilot Raymond Duriez, who met Saint-Exupéry in Corsica in 1944, shortly before the author’s death. The photos were found in a box containing papers and documents dating from the period that had been presented to the museum’s head curator by the son of Raymond Duriez. In it were found four photos showing the author of The Little Prince.

The photos date from July 1944 and they show Saint-Exupéry in his villa in Corsica, standing near a jeep, or in the cockpit of his plane. In this last shot, his name is clearly visible on his life jacket – it’s him, no question about it!  It is not known exactly who took the photos, but we do know that Raymond Duriez walked Saint-Exupéry to his Lightning that day and even helped him don his flight suit. It was 31 July 1944, the day Antoine de Saint-Exupéry flew his last mission.