Simone de Beauvoir, born Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir in Paris, was a multifaceted figure — a French existentialist philosopher, feminist, socialist, social theorist, intellectual, writer, and political activist.
Her influential contributions to feminist existentialism and feminist theory are encapsulated in her seminal work, The Second Sex (French: Le Deuxième Sexe), first published in 1949. This groundbreaking book delves into the historical treatment of women and stands as a cornerstone of the second-wave feminist movement.
De Beauvoir’s literary repertoire spans essays, novels, autobiographies, biographies, and monographs, addressing a wide array of social issues, philosophy, and politics.
Renowned for her lifelong partnership with the French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, the two chose never to marry.
Additionally, Simone de Beauvoir openly identified as bisexual and polyamorous. Her romantic relationships extended beyond Sartre and included both male and female partners, such as the French filmmaker Claude Lanzmann, the American writer Nelson Algren, and her students Bianca Lamblin and Natalie Sorokin. Notably, the latter two were minors during de Beauvoir’s thirties and were subjected to sexual exploitation by both Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre.
De Beauvoir’s 1943 novel She Came to Stay (French: L’Invitée) draws inspiration from her and Sartre’s involvement with Olga Kosakiewicz and her sister Wanda Kosakiewicz, both French theatre actresses.
Simone de Beauvoir passed away due to pneumonia on April 14, 1986, in Paris, at the age of 78. She rests alongside Sartre, who had passed away in 1980, at the Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris.