ABSTRACT
Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre were lifelong companions, occasionally romantically, always intellectually. Their story was epic—a true meeting of hearts and minds, collaborators in philosophical, political, and social movements. Although their relationship was certainly punctuated by episodes of jealousy, physical distance, and personal and philosophical disagreement, they remained together for over 50 years. Beauvoir met Sartre in 1929 at the École Normale Supérieure. Sartre “had been interested in her for months. At twenty-one, she was the youngest of the Sorbonne students preparing that year for the agrégation in philosophy, the competitive national teacher’s examination. She had given a talk in class on Leibniz, and Sartre was struck by her beauty and brilliance, her husky voice, and her rapid-fire speech” (Rowley 2005: 1). Although she was not an official student at the École, she attended lectures and studied for the grueling and competitive agrégation. After her impressive exposition on Leibniz, Sartre suggested she join his small band of friends, the “comrades,” to study for the oral component of the agrégation. Sartre, Paul Nizan, and René Maheu, (who gave her life-long nickname “le Castor”) welcomed Beauvoir into their otherwise elitist and somewhat irreverent circle. After working feverishly in preparation, Beauvoir took second place in the exam, beating Nizan and Jean Hyppolite, with Sartre taking first place (it was his second attempt).
