207,380 profiles ranked

Simone de Beauvoir

French philosopher, social theorist and activist (1908-1986) · France · Academics · Died at 78

Simone de Beauvoir is read about 4,509 times a day, in 143 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 390 days, one point a day.

Something wrong?
Compare

She didn't call herself a philosopher, but The Second Sex became the text that named women's oppression and laid the ground for contemporary feminism. Her memoirs and novels carried existentialist ideas into lived experience, and the controversy over her teaching career never quite dimmed the reach of her work.

WritersJournalistJournalismFictionStand UpPhilosophyLiteratureMovies

A life in dates

2020Les inséparablesBook published after her death, 1954 novel by Simone de Beauvoir2008prix Simone-de-Beauvoir pour la liberté des femmesNamed after her1986Died14 April 19861981Benjamin E. Lippincott AwardAward1978Austrian State Prize for European LiteratureAward1976“When Sartre and I met not only did our backgrounds fuse, but also our solidity, our individual conviction that we were what we were made to be.”In their wordsFebruary 1976Interview by John Gerassi in Society (January-February 1976)

1975Jerusalem PrizeAward1967“But presently I began to bubble with happiness. No, my daughters' absence did not sadden me at all - quite the reverse.”In their wordsThe Woman Destroyed [La Femme rompue] (1967)

1966“It's frightening to think that you mark your children merely by being yourself... It seems unfair. You can't assume the responsibility for everything you do - or don't do.”In their wordsLes Belles Images (1966), Ch. 3

1963“The Communists, following Hegel, speak of humanity and its future as of some monolithic individuality. I was attacking this illusion.”In their wordsOn her work All Men are Mortal in Force of Circumstances (1963), p. 73

“Self-knowledge is no guarantee of happiness, but it is on the side of happiness and can supply the courage to fight for it.”In their wordsForce of Circumstances Vol. III (1963) as translated by Richard Howard (1968)

1954Prix GoncourtAward1927“His personal prestige, his qualities, his competence assure him a preponderant role however; since 1927 he has been above all the unchallenged specialist on peasant question.”In their wordsOn Mao Zedong, in

1908Born9 January 1908

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Simone de Beauvoir2Simone de Beauvoir2Sartre and de Beauvoir at Balzac MemorialSartre and de Beauvoir at Balzac MemorialSimone de Beauvoir & Jean-Paul Sartre in Beijing 1955Simone de Beauvoir & Jean-Paul Sartre in Beijing 1955Simone de Beauvoir & Jean-Paul Sartre in Beijing 1955 (cropped)Simone de Beauvoir & Jean-Paul Sartre in Beijing 1955 (cropped)Simone de Beauvoir 1955Simone de Beauvoir 1955Simone de Beauvoir in Beijing 1955Simone de Beauvoir in Beijing 1955Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Jean Paul Sartre and Simone De Beauvoir welcomed by Avraham Shlonsky and Leah GoldbergFlickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Jean Paul Sartre and Simone De Beauvoir welcomed by Avraham Shlonsky and Leah GoldbergSimone De Beauvoir (cropped)Simone De Beauvoir (cropped)

In their own words 10

,
Simone de Beauvoir
,
10 statements, newest first

  1. When Sartre and I met not only did our backgrounds fuse, but also our solidity, our individual conviction that we were what we were made to be.

    Feb 1976, Interview by John Gerassi in Society (January-February 1976), Own words

  2. I tore myself away from the safe comfort of certainties through my love for truth - and truth rewarded me.

    1972, All Said and Done (1972), p. 16, Own words

  3. What is an adult? A child puffed with age.

    1967, The Woman Destroyed [La Femme rompue] (1967), Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

Benjamin E. Lippincott Award1981
Austrian State Prize for European Literature1978
Jerusalem Prize1975
Prix Goncourt1954
Honorary Doctorate of Concordia University

Family

Parents

Simone de Beauvoir
Is this everyone?

Only relatives with a profile here are drawn, so a family can be larger than this. A line here can also be wrong.

Correct this family

About this person

Born Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir in January 1908, she became a French existentialist philosopher, writer, and social theorist who shaped feminist thought without claiming the philosopher's title. The Second Sex arrived in 1949 as a detailed analysis of women's oppression and a foundational tract. She wrote novels - She Came to Stay in 1943, The Mandarins in 1954, the latter winning her the Prix Goncourt - and her memoirs, especially the first volume Mémoires d'une jeune fille rangée in 1958, became her most enduring literary contribution. She received the Jerusalem Prize in 1975 and the Austrian State Prize for European Literature in 1978, and was nominated for the Nobel in Literature three times. She briefly lost her teaching position after accusations of sexually abusing students. She died in April 1986.

Country
France
Category
Academics
Type
Academic
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1908 to 1986 · aged 78

In common with Simone

Jean-Paul SartreAlso in Sartre by Himself (1976)Micheline PresleAlso in The Blood of Others (1984)Josée DayanAlso in Simone de Beauvoir (1979)Alexandre AstrucAlso in Sartre by Himself (1976)Marianne AhrneAlso in Walking in the Land of the Old (1978)Nancy HollowayAlso in La Femme rompue (1978)

Fame.am measures public visibility signals. It does not measure human value, talent, morality, or credibility.