Simone de Beauvoir

About Simone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) was a towering figure in 20th-century philosophy, literature, and social theory. Ranked #460 in overall historical importance by the MIT Pantheon project, her most profound contribution is her foundational work in modern feminism, particularly her 1949 treatise, The Second Sex. This text dissected the societal construction of womanhood, arguing that "one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman," profoundly influencing subsequent waves of feminist thought and political action globally.

Despite her high historical ranking, de Beauvoir's current online visibility shows a moderate attention level, aligning closely with her importance. She accrued 715K Wikipedia views in 2025, resulting in an attention gap ratio of approximately 1x. To put this in context, this level of attention is significantly lower than contemporaries like Andy Warhol (#701 importance) who garnered 2.0M views, though her interest has remained stable with a modest Year-over-Year change of +0.7% and positive momentum of +4% from Q1 to Q3 2025.