Simone de Beauvoir (1908 - 1986) Simone de Beauvoir was a French novelist and advocate of existentialism. She always tried to live her life as an independent woman and not merely as the companion to a more dominant male. Yet, she was sensitive to the position of woman worldwide as the subordinate, or "second" sex. A brilliant student and writer, she taught philosophy until 1943. After meeting Jean Paul Sartre at the Sorbonne in 1929, she became closely associated with him and his circle. In her first novel, She Came to Stay (1943), she explored the existentialist dilemma of finding meaning in an absurd world. Later novels addressing the same theme include The Blood of Others (1944) and The Mandarins (1954), for which de Beauvoir received the Prix Goncourt. The existentialist thesis that one is responsible for oneself is promulgated in a series of autobiographical works, notably Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter (1958) and All Said and Done (1972). Her books reveal her own life against the background of the times in which she lived. Among de Beauvoir's nonfiction are The Second Sex (1949), a profound analysis of women's role in society; The Coming of Age (1970), her study of the aging process and passionate indictment of society's attitude toward the old; and Adieux: A Farewell to Sartre (1981), a memoir about her long-time colleague.