Since the publication of The Second Sex in 1949 Simone de Beauvoir has been a source of philosophical inspiration for feminists worldwide. Beauvoir was born in Paris, January 2, 1908, the daughter of Fran9oise Brasseur de Beauvoir and Georges de Beauvoir. She studied philosophy at the Sorbonne and the Ecole Normale Supèrieure. After completing the agregatèon in 1923, she taught philosophy in Marseilles, Rouen, and Paris. In 1944 Beauvoir decided to become a full-time writer. Simone de Beauvoir formed many lasting friendships including, most notably, her life-long friendship with Jean-Paul Sartre, the individual who most influenced her ideas and writing. She traveled widely and was particularly impressed by her visits to China, the Soviet Union, Cuba, and the United States of America. She took part in numerous political demonstrations, among which were the opposition to the German occupation of France, to French colonial rule in Algeria, to the war in Vietnam, and to sexism in women's lives. Simone de Beauvoir died in Paris, April 21, 1986.