Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (US also ; French: [saʁtʁ]; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, political activist, and writer, considered a leading figure in 20th-century French philosophy and Marxism. Sartre was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology) and was a proponent of Libertarian Marxism. His work has influenced sociology, critical theory, post-colonial theory, and literary studies. He was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature despite attempting to refuse it, saying that he always declined official honors and that "a writer should not allow himself to be turned into an institution".

Sartre had an open relationship with prominent feminist and fellow existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir. Together, Sartre and de Beauvoir challenged the cultural and social assumptions and expectations of their upbringings, which they considered bourgeois, in both lifestyles and thought. The conflict between oppressive, spiritually destructive conformity (mauvaise foi, literally, 'bad faith') and an "authentic" way of "being" became the dominant theme of Sartre's early work, a theme embodied in his principal philosophical work Being and Nothingness (L'Être et le Néant, 1943). Sartre provided an introduction to his philosophy in his work Existentialism Is a Humanism (L'existentialisme est un humanisme, 1946), originally presented as a lecture.

Born in Paris, Sartre lost his father at the age of two and was raised primarily by his mother and grandfather, who introduced him to literature. He studied at the prestigious École Normale Supérieure, where he developed a deep interest in philosophy, influenced by thinkers like Henri Bergson, Edmund Husserl, and Martin Heidegger. Sartre's early academic career included teaching in several French lycées and engaging in provocative pranks and debates.