Simone de Beauvoir was a French philosopher and novelist, a leading exponent of existentialism, and a political activist for women’s rights.
Her best known work is “The Second Sex,” published in 1949, one of the most significant works of feminist literature. The book detailed women’s subjugation, and the now-famous line “one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman” was a wake-up call to generations of women and men.
