Simone de Beauvoir 1908 – 1986

Simone de Beauvoir was a 20th-century French philosopher, writer, and political activist, a central figure of post-war French existentialism and a foundational thinker of modern feminist philosophy. Her 1949 work The Second Sex offered a sweeping philosophical analysis of women's situation, arguing that one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman; the book became a defining text of the second-wave feminist movement. The Ethics of Ambiguity developed an existentialist account of moral freedom and responsibility, while novels including The Mandarins, which won the Prix Goncourt in 1954, addressed the moral and political dilemmas of post-war intellectuals. She maintained a lifelong intellectual and personal partnership with Jean-Paul Sartre. Her influence on philosophy, literature, and political thought has continued to grow since her death.