“And then I am awfully greedy; I want everything from life, I want to be a woman and to be a man, to have many friends and to have loneliness, to work much and write good books, and to travel and enjoy myself, to be selfish and to be unselfish... You see, it is difficult to get all which I want. And then when I do not succeed I get mad with anger.”
Simone de Beauvoir to her lover Nelson Algren, 1947
Simone de Beauvoir became one of the first women to graduate from the Sorbonne, earning a degree in philosophy in 1928. She would go on to be one of the leading philosophers and public intellectuals of her time.
de Beauvoir published novels, short stories, and an autobiography, but she is best remembered for her contributions to feminist and existential philosophy (despite the fact that she did not consider herself a philosopher and for much of her career rejected the label “feminist”). Her book The Second Sex was published in 1949 and an English translation soon followed in 1953. The book became hugely influential in the English-speaking world and inspired the rise of “Second Wave” feminism. Whereas “First Wave” feminist activism had been directed toward such things as women’s suffrage and equal property rights, the “Second Wave” challenged more broadly societally imposed gender roles and sought to break down the stereotypes that excluded women from many professions and social opportunities.
Among the general public de Beauvoir was known more for her ultra-leftist politics and her lifestyle than for her philosophy. She was in a relationship with the philosopher John-Paul Sartre for over 50 years, but their relationship was famously “open,” and de Beauvoir had numerous other intimate relationships with both men and women.
She died in 1986 at age 78 and was buried in Paris, next to Sartre.
Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir was born on January 9, 1908, one hundred sixteen years ago today.
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