Simone de Beauvoir

Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir was born in Paris, France on 9 January 1908. She was a French writer, intellectual, existentialist philosopher, political activist, feminist and social theorist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, she had a significant influence on both feminist existentialism and feminist theory.

De Beauvoir wrote novels, essays, biographies, autobiography and monographs on philosophy, politics and social issues. She was known for her 1949 treatise The Second Sex, a detailed analysis of women's oppression and a foundational tract of contemporary feminism and for her novels, including She Came to Stay and The Mandarins.

Beginning in 1929, de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre were partners for fifty-one years until his death in 1980. De Beauvoir chose never to marry or set up a joint household and she never had children. This gave her the time to advance her education and engage in political causes, to write and teach, and to have lovers.

De Beauvoir died of pneumonia on 14 April, 1986 in Paris, aged 78. She is buried next to Sartre at the Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris.

Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986)

THE SECOND SEX (1949)

THE MANDARINS (1954)

SHE COME TO STAY (1943)

A VERY EASY DEATH (1964)

ADIEUX (1981)