Simone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir was a French intellectual and political activist. Considered one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century, she is known for her early contributions to existentialist philosophy, her romans-à-clef “She Came to Stay” and “The Mandarins,” and for her 1949 treatise, “The Second Sex,” a foundational work of contemporary feminism. She was in a lifelong, open relationship with fellow existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre.