Simone Beauvoir

Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (French: Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir; January 9, 1908 – April 14, 1986) was a French writer, existential philosopher, feminist activist, and social theorist. Her thoughts and theories have had a significant impact on feminist existentialism and feminist theory, and have become the foundation of contemporary feminism. She has written novels, essays, biographies, autobiographies, memoirs, and monographs on philosophy, politics, and social issues. She is famous for her essay "The Second Sex", which analyzed the oppression of women in detail and established contemporary feminism from a philosophical level. She was awarded the 1954 Goncourt Literary Prize, the 1975 Jerusalem Prize, and the 1978 Austrian National European Literature Prize.