ABSTRACT
Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir was the elder of two daughters born to attorney Georges Bertrand de Beauvoir and Françoise Brasseur de Beauvoir. The noble-sounding “de” in their name indicated some family prestige, but they were only comfortable, not wealthy. Apart from a five-year period during adulthood, de Beauvoir spent her entire life in the Montparnasse district of Paris. Her mother was a devout Catholic, and as a young girl, de Beauvoir regularly attended church and went to confession. She studied in a Catholic school and considered God her personal companion. However, by adolescence she had given up her faith. In 1929, de Beauvoir met Jean-Paul Sartre and studied with him for the agrégation in philosophy (which he had failed the previous year). After both passed the examination with high honors, she agreed to a “two-year lease” relationship with Sartre.
