NYU Hosts Simone de Beauvoir Week Sept. 15-20

Commemorating the 100th anniversary of Simone de Beauvoir’s birth, New York University’s Center for French Civilization and Culture will host “Simone de Beauvoir Week” from September 15 to 20, featuring documentary films about Beauvoir, a theatrical presentation, and a major international conference entitled “All Said and Done/Tout Compte Fait.”

Author of The Second Sex, widely acknowledged to be the founding text of modern feminism, Beauvoir is a crucial figure in the struggle for women’s rights, an eminent writer (she won the Prix Goncourt for her novel The Mandarins), and a central player in the 20th-century French intellectual scene. She is also famous for being the lifelong companion of Jean-Paul Sartre.

The Second Sex changed women’s perceptions of themselves and influenced every women’s movement in the world. Betty Friedan, Kate Millet, and Gloria Steinem have all acknowledged their debt to Beauvoir and her book; and over half a century later an American woman has come close to winning the nomination for the presidency, while women all over the world are heads of state.

Toril Moi from Duke University will deliver the keynote address on Thursday, September 18, at 7:30 p.m. Other conference participants include Deidre Bair, Beauvoir’s biographer; Annie Cohen-Solal, author of the acclaimed Sartre: A Life; and Hazel Rowley, who wrote the controversial book Téte-à-Téte: The Tumultuous Lives and Loves of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre.

Most sessions of the conference and the theatrical presentation take place at NYU’s Maison Française, 16 Washington Mews. The films are screened at NYU’s Cantor Film Center, 36 E. 8th Street. For specific information, call 212.998.8750 or log on to: http://french.as.nyu.edu/object/beauvoir.html

Media wishing to cover any part of the conference should contact Barbara Jester, 212.998.6844; barbara.jester@nyu.edu.