Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (June 21, 1905 – April 15, 1980) was a French existentialist philosopher, dramatist, novelist and critic.

Sartre after literature

In 1964, Sartre renounced literature in a witty and sardonic account of the first six years of his life, Les mots (Words). The book is an ironic counterblast to Marcel Proust, whose reputation had unexpectedly eclipsed that of André Gide (who had provided the model of literature engagée for Sartre's generation). Literature, Sartre concluded, functioned as a bourgeois substitute for real commitment in the world. In the same year he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, but he resoundingly declined it, stating that he had always refused official honors and didn't wish to align himself with institutions. This rejection hurt the prestige of the Nobel institution more than it did Sartre's. However, Sartre later tried to claim the prize money but the Nobel committee turned him down. This fact was revealed in the auto-biography of Lars Gyllensten, long time member of the Nobel Prize committee. The French philosopher in 1975 wrote a letter to the Nobel Prize committee, saying

Related Topics:
Marcel Proust - André Gide - Nobel Prize

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that he had changed his mind about the prize, at least when it came to the money (approx $1M). Would it be possible to receive the prize, or the money, after 11 years? The answer was "No".

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Though he was now world-famous and a household word (as was "existentialism" during the tumultuous

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1960s), Sartre remained a simple man with few possessions, actively committed to causes until the end of his life, such as the student revolution strikes in Paris during the summer of 1968.

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In 1975, when asked how he would like to be remembered, Sartre replied: "I would like to remember Nausea, No Exit and The Devil and the Good Lord, and then my two philosophical works, more particularly the second one, Critique of Dialectical Reason. Then my essay on Genet, Saint Genet...If these are remembered, that would be quite an achievement, and I don't ask for more. As a man, if a certain Jean-Paul Sartre is remembered, I would like people to remember the milieu or historical situation in which I lived,...how I lived in it, in terms of all the aspirations which I tried to gather up within myself."

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Sartre's physical condition deteriorated, partially due to the merciless pace of work he put himself through during the writing of the Critique and the last project of his life, a massive analytical biography of Gustave Flaubert (The Family Idiot), both of which remain unfinished. He died April 15, 1980 in Paris from an edema of the lung. His last word is reputed to be simply, "Trix".

Related Topics:
Gustave Flaubert - Edema - Lung

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Sartre lies buried in Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris. His funeral was attended by some

Related Topics:
Cimetière du Montparnasse - Paris

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50,000 people.

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