Fun Facts About Simone de Beauvoir
- Simone de Beauvoir passed France's highly competitive philosophy agrégation at 21, the youngest person ever to do so. The jury narrowly gave Jean-Paul Sartre first place and her second.[1][3][4]
- Beauvoir's lasting nickname was "Castor", meaning "Beaver". It came from René Maheu, one of the students she met while studying for the agrégation.[1]
- Beauvoir's Prix Goncourt-winning novel The Mandarins portrays her relationship with the American writer Nelson Algren, who appears as Lewis Brogan. She was buried wearing a silver ring he gave her.[1]
- Beauvoir wrote the novel Les Inséparables in 1954 about her first love, a classmate called Zaza. Sartre disapproved, and it was not published until 2020.[1][3][4]
- At the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, a statue of Beauvoir rose from the Seine as one of ten women honored by France.[1]
- Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir were intellectual and romantic partners for 51 years.[1][2][3][4]
- Simone de Beauvoir was alive at the same time as Florence Nightingale — their lives overlapped for 2 years (1908–1910).[1][2][5][6]
- Simone de Beauvoir shares a birthday with Richard Nixon: both were born on January 9.[1][2][7][8]
Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, nor was she considered one at the time of her death, she had a significant influence on both feminist existentialism and feminist theory.[1]
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Questions About Simone de Beauvoir
When was Simone de Beauvoir born?
Simone de Beauvoir was born on January 9, 1908, and died on April 14, 1986.
How old was Simone de Beauvoir at death?
Simone de Beauvoir was born on January 9, 1908, and died on April 14, 1986, at age 78.
What was Simone de Beauvoir known for?
Simone de Beauvoir was known for: The Second Sex, feminist existentialist. Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, nor was she considered one at the time of her death, she had a significant influence on both feminist existentialism and feminist theory.
Who was alive at the same time as Simone de Beauvoir?
Simone de Beauvoir's closest contemporary was Georgia O'Keeffe. Their lives overlapped for 78 years.
Sources
- Simone de Beauvoir — Wikipedia. Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Simone de Beauvoir (Q7197) — Wikidata
- Jean-Paul Sartre — Wikipedia
- Jean-Paul Sartre (Q9364) — Wikidata
- Florence Nightingale — Wikipedia
- Florence Nightingale (Q37103) — Wikidata
- Richard Nixon — Wikipedia
- Richard Nixon (Q9588) — Wikidata
- Portrait: Simone de Beauvoir2.png — Wikimedia Commons. Moshe Milner, CC BY-SA 3.0