Brief biography of Simone de Beauvoir, famous for her quote, "One is not born a woman, one becomes one," and books The Second Sex and The Ethics of Ambiguity.

Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986), French writer, philosopher, existentialist, teacher, and socialist, is regarded as one of the leading feminists of the 20th century. She is famous for her masterpiece The Second Sex (Le Deuxième Sexe), and her existential philosophical work The Ethics of Ambiguity.

Simone de Beauvoir's Early Years

One hundred years ago, Beauvoir was born in Paris, on January 9, 1908, where she lived for most of her life. She grew up in a respected bourgeois family, the eldest of two daughters. Her father was a lawyer, and her mother was a devout Catholic. In search of a new and freer way of life, she later rejected the family's traditional religious values, and adopted atheism.

While studying at the Sorbonne, she met the young philosopher Jean-Paul Sarte. They became lifelong partners until his death, and never married, believing marriage to be an outdated idea. She was simply called "Castor" by Sartre and their intellectual circle of friends.

Philosophy Teacher

A philosophy teacher, she taught high school at the same time developing her philosophical thoughts on feminism and existentialism.

When she was 35, Beauvoir published her first novel, She Came to Stay. It is about the relationships between a trio, two women and one man, based on her experience of living with Sartre and another woman. She wrote two more novels and several works of philosophy, based in particular on existentialist themes she developed with Sartre, before publishing her most famous book and masterpiece, The Second Sex.

Existentialist Philosopher

The Second Sex has been described as the most important work in the history of feminist writing. In it Beauvoir attempted to describe what it means to be a woman. Its central idea is summed up in her famous phrase "One is not born a woman, one becomes one." In this often quoted one-liner, she delved deep into women's oppression through the years. Clearly, this phrase became the 'bible' of the feminist movement and definitive declaration of women's independence.

Feminist Writer

Beauvoir believed that it is only tradition and social constraints that put women in an inferior position. Many people at that time accepted the belief that women were born inferior.

Her ideas shocked many people but brought inspiration and hope to millions of women who recognized their own lives in her writing.

Simone de Beauvoir's works include a prize-winning four-part autobiography The Mandarins, a novel, The Coming of Age, condemning society for its treatment of the elderly. She wrote A Very Easy Death, on her mother's death. One of her endearing final novels was a diary recording the slow death of her lifelong companion, friend, and intellectual colleague Jean-Paul Sarte, Adieux: A Farewell to Sartre (La Cérémonie Des Adieux.)

Works by Simone de Beauvoir

• She Came to Stay, 1943
• The Second Sex, 1949
• The Mandarins, 1954
• Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter, 1958
• The Prime of Life, 1960
• The Coming of Age, 1970
• All Said and Done, 1972
• When Things of the Spirit Comes First, 1979
• Adieux: A Farewell to Sartre, 1981

Sources:

Cambridge Guide to Literature in English, by Ian Ousby (1993)

Chambers Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern, Chambers ((2003)

Larousse Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring (1994)

Philosophy, The Great Thinkers, by Philip Stokes, Arcturus Publishing (2007)