biography
pronunciation:
[sahtr]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1905–80)
|
| biography:
| Existentialist philosopher and writer, born in Paris, France. He taught philosophy at Le Havre, Paris, and Berlin, was imprisoned in Germany (1941), and after his release joined the resistance in Paris. In 1945 he emerged as the leading light of the left-bank intellectual life of Paris. His name is synonymous with existentialism, a philosophy which seeks the freedom of the individual human being, and which he shared with his companion, Simone de Beauvoir. His novels include the trilogy, Les Chemins de la liberté (1945–9, Paths of Freedom), and he also wrote (especially after the war) a large number of plays, such as Huis clos (1944, trans In Camera/No Exit) and Le Diable et le bon Dieu (1951, trans Lucifer and the Lord). His philosophy is presented in L'Etre et le néant (1943, Being and Nothingness). In 1964 he published his autobiography Les Mots (Words), and was awarded (but declined) the Nobel Prize for Literature. In the later 1960s he became heavily involved in opposition to US policies in Vietnam, and supported student rebellion in 1968. |
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