Scandals, feminist, anti-racist and anti-colonialist struggles... Simone de Beauvoir, avant-garde philosopher
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The philosopher photographed by Gisèle Freund in 1948. CENTRE POMPIDOU / MNAM-CCI / DIST. GRANDPALAISRMN / AUDREY LAURANS
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Portrait Author of "The Second Sex", the bible of feminism, the philosopher radically changed the perception that women have of themselves, and fought for the rights of the oppressed.
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Worried about the daunting prospect of writing about Simone de Beauvoir, I decided to go hunting for bargains at the Emmaüs of my childhood. Only, as soon as I arrived at the flea market, I found myself face to face with a giant portrait of "Beaver." In 1929, while they were preparing for the agrégation together, René Maheu had nicknamed his classmate Simone in allusion to the animal - beaver , in English - and her constructive spirit. At 21, the young woman had already studied mathematics, literature and philosophy, becoming the youngest agrégée in France, second in the competition, just behind Jean-Paul Sartre, who had failed the previous year.
So I found myself face to face, or rather under the gaze of, the tall lady with the braided bun, whom a companion of the Community had carelessly placed on the top shelf of the shelves. The ultimate irony for this pioneer of modern feminism was that the philosopher found herself tucked away in the "Tableware" warehouse, certainly high up but right in the middle of the soup tureens... As if she still had to fight to avoid being reduced to her "situation" of...
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