Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry

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Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry, born Consuelo Suncín de Sandoval (1901–1979), was a Salvadoran‑French writer and artist who became a countess after marrying Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. She grew up in a wealthy family in Armenia, El Salvador, and due to asthma studied abroad in the United States, Mexico, and France. She married three times: first Ricardo Cárdenas (divorced), then Enrique Gómez Carrillo (married 1926, he died in 1927), and finally Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (married 1931). She lived in Buenos Aires after Carrillo’s death and later moved to Europe.

Her marriage to Saint-Exupéry was famous but stormy, with both partners having affairs. After Saint-Exupéry disappeared in 1944, Consuelo reportedly wrote a memoir about their life, The Tale of the Rose, which was kept secret for years and published in France in 2000. She died on May 28, 1979, and is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris beside Carrillo.

Consuelo is often linked to The Little Prince as an inspiration for the Rose character, though interpretations vary.