Who is Simone
Simone-Lucie-Ernestine-Marie Bernard de
Beauvoir or Simone de Beauvoir was born on 9 January 1908 in Paris.
She received a middle-classe and
religious education. She is known
worldwide for having written
unforgettable books such as "The Second
Sex" in 1949 and "The Mandarins" in
1954
Because of the enormous intensity and
she was one of the pioneers*of women's literature.
Simone de
Beauvoir is a philosopher,
novelist and letter writer who
represents the French existentialist
movement with Jean-Paul Sartre. In the
course of the 20th century Simone de
Beauvoir was one of the most
recognizable and important feminists,
She was inspired by Olympe de Gouges
(Olympe de Gouges was a very important
feminist during the French Revolution,
in fact she defended the rights of women
as well as feminism before being
guillotined on November 3, 1793 at the
Place de la Concorde in Paris)
Simone de Beauvoir in 1967
Why is Simone de Beauvoir seen as an
important feminist figure?
In October 1945 Simone de Beauvoir
founded with Sartre "Les Temps
Modernes", a literary, philosophical
and political review which
was quite close to the French Communist
Party, indeed it lasted
until at least 1950 and was published
every month until her death.
In 1954, she wrote Les Mandarins, a book
that tells the story of a group of
left-wing intellectuals at the end of
the Second World War in a violent and
tyrannical* society.
Simone detailed their life, the
isolation they suffered and their
lack of influence (in this novel we can
recognize Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus
, as well as Simone de Beauvoir herself)
(She also got the Goncourt* prize after
the publication of this novel)
Around the 1970s and the success of her
book "Deuxième sexe", Simone became an
activist for the cause of feminism and
participated in the women's movement.
Simone signed the "343 manifesto for
free abortion" and became president of
the League of Women's Rights. She also
fought against sexism and domestic
violence (by supporting actions against)
We also learn that in 1969 the CIA
(Central Intelligent Agency) wrote a report
against Simone de Beauvoir and
Jean-Paul Sartre mentioning that he had
helped (financed) a network of
activists against the United States in
1960
Simone died at the age of 78 on
14 April
1986 in the 14th district of Paris,
her health deteriorating rapidly after
the death of Jean-Paul Sarte, who was
very dear to her in 1980 (Simone was
buried in the same grave as Sartre so
that she would never be separated from
him)
Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre in 1960
Timeline
Pioneer: A person who is the first to
accomplishsomething in a particular
field
Tyrannical: A tyrannical, authoritarian
and oppressive government.
Prix Goncourt: The Prix Goncourt is a
French literary prize for French-
speaking authors, created by the will of
Edmond de Goncourt in 1892. The Goncourt
Literary Society, known as the Goncourt
Academy was officially founded in 1902
and the first Goncourt Prize was
proclaimed on December 21, 1903.
