The Little Prince (French: Le Petit Prince; French pronunciation: [lə.pə.tiˈpʁɛ̃s]), first published in 1943, is a novella, the most famous work of the French aristocrat, writer, poet, and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944).
The novella is the fourth most-translated book in the world and was voted the best book of the 20th century in France. Translated into more than 250 languages and dialects (as well as Braille), selling nearly two million copies annually with sales totaling over 140 million copies worldwide, it has become one of the best-selling books ever published.
After the outbreak of the Second World War Saint-Exupéry was exiled to North America. In the midst of personal upheavals and failing health, he produced almost half of the writings for which he would be remembered, including a tender tale of loneliness, friendship, love, and loss, in the form of a young prince fallen to Earth. An earlier memoir by the author had recounted his aviation experiences in the Sahara Desert, and he is thought to have drawn on those same experiences in The Little Prince.
Petit Prince (Little Prince) may refer to:
(45) Eugenia I Petit-Prince is the larger, outer moon of asteroid 45 Eugenia. It was discovered in 1998 by astronomers at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Initially, it received the provisional designation S/1998 (45) 1. Petit-Prince was the first asteroid moon to be discovered with a ground-based telescope. Previously, the only known moon of an asteroid was Dactyl, discovered by the Galileo space probe, around 243 Ida.
Petit-Prince is 13 km in diameter, compared to 45 Eugenia's 214 km. It takes five days to complete an orbit around Eugenia.
The discoverers chose the name in honour of Empress Eugénie's son, the Prince Imperial. However, they also intended an allusion to the children's book The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, which is about a prince who lives on an asteroid.
In their submission of the name to the IAU, the discovers justified the double meaning by arguing for similarities between the Prince Imperial and the Little Prince:
Le petit a raté sa vie,
Le petit, le petit,
Le petit a raté sa vie
Il a tout avoué
Il a tout balancé
Il a tout laisser tombé,
Pour suivre un reve isolé
Le voila qui cours les rues
Etre un étrangé méconnu,
Il est malmené
Il est confus
Le petit a raté sa vie,
Le petit, le petit,