Beauvoir, Simone de 1908-86
French socialist, feminist and writer

Simone de Beauvoir was born in Paris and educated at the Sorbonne, where she later lectured. She will probably be remembered chiefly for the enormous impact made by Le Deuxi�me sexe (1949, Eng trans The Second Sex, 1953), a study of women's social situation and historical predicament; it was one of the first feminist tracts which, despite its alleged shortcomings, remains authoritative for its intelligence and the forcefulness of the case it presents. It inspired many women to salutary writings and actions and led several to refer to its author as 'the mother of us all'. She was also a notable novelist and autobiographer. The lifelong companion of Jean-Paul Sartre, she contributed with him to the Existentialist movement of the mid-20th-century.

Her more autobiographical writings and novels include Les Mandarins (1954), a winner of the Prix Goncourt; M�moires d'une jeune fille rang�e (1958, Eng trans Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter, 1959); La Force de l'�ge (1960, Eng trans The Prime of Life, 1963); La Force des choses (1963, Eng trans The Force of Circumstance, 1965); Une Mort tr�s douce (1964, Eng trans A Very Easy Death, 1972); Toute compte fait (1972, Eng trans All Said and Done, 1974); and La C�r�monie des adieux (1981, Eng trans Adieux: A Farewell to Sartre).

Bibliography: D Bair, Simone de Beauvoir (1990); R D Cottrell, Simone de Beauvoir (1975).