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Simone de Beauvoir

1. Simone Ernestine Lucie Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir was born on January 9, 1908. She was born in Paris, France to Georges Bertrand and Françoise de Beauvoir. She was a French novelist, philosopher, and feminist. She wrote novels, essays, biographies and on philosophy, politics, and social issues. She laid the foundation for the modern feminist movement (Bio1).

As a curious, intelligent child, Beauvoir was immediately introduced to conflicting opinions by her atheist father and devoutly catholic mother. From an early age, her father encouraged her to read and write. He would give her edited selections to read from works of literature. He was interested in her intellectual advancement into her teenage years as well. Beauvoir wanted to be a writer and a teacher, and pursued her studies. As for her month, she often hated Francoise de Beauvoir and as a child as a result of her mother’s training, Beauvoir had a crisis of faith at 14. She decided definitively that God did not exist, and remained an atheist until her death (Weil3).

There were also two relationships from her childhood that altered her views. One involved her sister, Hélène. To her sister is where Beauvoir traces her love of teaching. She tried educating her from a young age. Another influence was her friend, Zaza. Beauvoir met Zaza when she entered the Institut Adeline Désir which was a catholic school where Beauvoir remained until age 17. Doctors believed Zaza’s death is 1929 was caused by meningitis. However, Beauvoir believed that Zaza died a broken heart. She was struggling with her family over an arranged marriage.

VanAllen2

Beauvoir spoke of Zaza's friendship and death for the rest of her life. The experience influenced her critique of the bourgeois attitudes toward women (Wiel3).

Beauvoir was very intelligent and received an excellent education. She passed the baccalauréat exams in mathematics and philosophy. From there, she studied mathematics at the Institut...