Nydia Villezcas

September 16, 2003

Women Studies 200

Simone de Beauvoir

Life

Simone de Beauvoir was born in Paris, France, on January 9, 1908. Her full name

is Simone Lucie-Ernestine-Marie-Bertrand de Beauvoir. Her father was a lawyer and had

noble ties which is the reason why Simone had the 'de' in her name. Her mother was a

strict Catholic woman. A lot of people say that the reason Simone was inspired to become

an intellect was because she was caught between her father's morals and her mother's

religious standards. Simone was the eldest of two daughters. Her sister's name was

Poupette. While still an adolescent, she adopted atheism and devoted her life to writing

and studying.

Education

Simone was schooled in private institions and attended Sorbonne, where she

studied philosophy. She graduated in 1929. She was a French essayist and novelist, as well

as a leading feminist and a supporter of existentialism. She taught high school between

1931 and 1943. Among other things, she was also an anti-colonist and a pro-abortionist.

Although Simone loved her work, she was deeply influenced by a really good friend

named Jean-Paul Sartre. In 1945, Simone and Sartre founded a monthly review named Le

Temps modernes. Both made a brilliant team and with Sartre's help she combined both

Ethics and her desire in existentialism and produced her famous work, The Second Sex.

Although this essay was book-length, it was the best known. Later in Simone's life, she

became very dedicated to the feminist movement and she was also very committed to

atheism. She believed that religion supplied a reason to evade truth. Some time later,

Simone worked and traveled to China with Sartre where she remained until her best

friend died in 1980. One of her final novels was based on Sartre's death, and was written

as a journal recording his death.

Just a few books by de Beauvoir

· The Second Sex

· All Men Are Mortal

· The Woman Destroyed

· She Came To Stay

· A Very Easy Death

Simone de Beauvoir was an excellent writer, who wrote numerous amounts of

novels and essays. She was very devoted to her beliefs throughout her entire life, and with

that became a dedicated person. Not only as a feminist, but also her studies in philosophy

and existentialism. Simone died on April 14, 1986 in Paris, France.

Works Cited

Eiermann, Katharena. Dividing Line.com, Simone de Beauvoir. Website:

http://www.dividingline.com/private/Philosophy/Philosophers/Beau/Slife.shtml

Flaherty, Tarraugh. Simone de Beauvoir. Website: http://www.webster.edu/

~woolflm/beauvoir.html

The Window. Simone de Beauvoir, French Existentialist, Writer, and Social Essayist.

Website: http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/phil/philo/phils/beauvoir.html