Simone de Beauvoir was born today in 1908

Simone de Beauvoir, née le 9 janvier 1908 dans le 6e arrondissement de Paris, ville où elle est morte le 14 avril 1986, philosophe, romancière, épistolière, mémorialiste et essayiste française souvent considérée comme une théoricienne importante du féminisme, a participé au mouvement de libération des femmes dans les années 1970. Elle a partagé la vie du philosophe Jean-Paul Sartre.   Simone de Beauvoir (9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French writer, intellectual, existentialist philosopher, political activist, feminist and social theorist. She had a significant influence on both feminist existentialism and feminist theory. De Beauvoir wrote novels, essays, biographies, autobiography and monographs on philosophy, politics and social issues. She is known for her 1949 treatise The Second Sex, a detailed analysis of women's oppression and a foundational tract of contemporary feminism; and for her novels, including She Came to Stay and The Mandarins. She is also known for her open relationship with French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre.

Simone de Beauvoir | Beauvoir and Sartre arriving Israel, welcomed by Avraham Shlonsky and Leah Goldberg, 1967

Plaque: 24, rue Cels
Dans cet hôtel ont habité, entre 1937 et 1939 puis à diverses reprises durant la guerre, Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986), Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980). "Je trichais quand je disais: on ne fait qu'un. Entre deux individus, l'harmonie n'est jamais donnée, elle doit indéfiniment se conquérir." (S. de Beauvoir, La Force de l'âge) "Mais il est une chose qui ne change point, ni ne peut changer: c'est que quoi qu'il arrive et quoi que je devienne, je le deviendrai avec vous." (J.P. Sartre, Lettres au Castor). Soucieux de préserver leur liberté mutuelle, ils occupaient à l'hôtel deux chambres séparées dominant le cimetière du Montparnasse, où la mort les a réunis. Association La Mémoire des lieux.	Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) and Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) stayed in this hotel in 1937-1939 and then again during WWII. "I was lying when I was saying: We are one. Between two individuals harmony is never given, it must be conquered endlessly.'(S. de Beauvoir, La Force de l'âge / The Prime of Life). "But one thing will never and cannot change: whatever happens, and whoever I become I will become it with you' (J.P. Sartre, Lettres au Castor / Witness to My Life & Quiet Moments in a War). Anxious to preserve their personal liberty, they stayed in two rooms, each with a view to the Montparnasse cemetery, where they are re-united.  Association La Mémoire des lieux.
Plaque: 11bis, rue Victor Schoelcher
Simone de Beauvoir, 1908-1986, auteur du Deuxième sexe, écrivain, philosophe, vécut dans cette maison de 1955 à 1986	Simone de Beauvoir, 1908-1986, writer and philosopher who authored The Second Sex, lived in this house 1955 - 1986.

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Copyrights: Images hotlinked from Wikipedia Commons retain their licences. All other pictures are CC-BY-NC-SA, Serendiparis, 2001-2013

Winnaretta Singer, princesse de Polignac, was born today in 1865

Winnaretta Singer, princesse Edmond de Polignac, dite « Winnie » née à Yonkers (État de New York) le 8 janvier 1865 et morte à Londres le 26 novembre 1943, est une mécène musicale, et l'héritière des machines à coudre Singer.   La Fondation Singer-Polignac, créée en 1928, se consacre à des activités de mécénat en faveur des arts, des lettres et des sciences et œuvre grâce à ses propres fonds. Winnaretta Singer, Princesse Edmond de Polignac (Yonkers, NY, 8 January 1865 – London, UK, 26 November 1943) was an American musical patron and heir to the Singer sewing machine fortune. Her mother, Parisian-born Isabella Boyer, was possibly the model for Bartholdi's Statue of Liberty. After the outbreak of American Civil War, the Singer family moved to Paris, where they remained until the Franco-Prussian War. In 1894 the Prince and Princesse de Polignac established a salon in Paris in the music room of their mansion on Avenue Henri-Martin (today, Avenue Georges-Mandel). The Polignac salon came to be known as a haven for avant-garde music. First performances of Chabrier, d'Indy, Debussy, Fauré, and Ravel took place in the Polignac salon. The young Ravel dedicated his piano work, Pavane pour une infante défunte, to the Princesse de Polignac. Many of Marcel Proust's evocations of salon culture were born during his attendance at concerts in the Polignac drawing room.

Winnaretta Singer | Harris & Ewing Collection (Library of Congress).

Plaque: 43 Avenue Georges-Mandel
Fondation Singer-Polignac, créée le 25 mars 1928, par la princesse Edmond de Polignac, née Winnaretta Singer. 1865-1943	Singer-Polignac Foundation, created 25 March 1928, by the princess Edmond de Polignac, née Winnaretta Singer. 1865-1943

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Copyrights: Images hotlinked from Wikipedia Commons retain their licences. All other pictures are CC-BY-NC-SA, Serendiparis, 2001-2013

Khalil Gibran, Lebanese American writer, was born today in 1883

Gibran Khalil Gibran (جبران خليل جبران), poète et peintre libanais, est né le 6 janvier 1883 à Bcharré, Liban. En 1895, il émigre avec sa famille aux États-Unis, où il vivra la majeure partie de sa vie; il est mort le 10 avril 1931 à New York. En 1908-1910, Gibran étudier la peinture à Paris, où il fréquente, entre autres, l'atelier Colarossi. Publié en 1923 et composé de vingt-six textes poétiques, son recueil "Le Prophète" est devenu particulièrement populaire pendant les années 1960 dans le courant de la contre-culture et les mouvements New Age.   Kahlil Gibran (جبران خليل جبران)(January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931), a Lebanese-American artist, poet, and writer, was born in the north of modern-day Lebanon, and immigrated with his family to the United States in 1895, where he studied art and began his literary career, writing in both English and Arabic. He studied painting in Paris in 1908-1910. He is chiefly known in the English-speaking world for his 1923 book The Prophet, an early example of inspirational fiction including a series of philosophical essays written in poetic English prose, which gained popularity in the 1960s counterculture.

Khalil Gibran | autoportrait, c. 1911

Plaque: 14, avenue du Maine
Ici vécut de 1908 à 1910 Gibran Khalil Gibran 1883-1931 peintre et poète libano-americain.	Gibran Khalil Gibran 1883-1931 Lebanese American painter and poet lived here 1908 - 1910.

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Copyrights: Images hotlinked from Wikipedia Commons retain their licences. All other pictures are CC-BY-NC-SA, Serendiparis, 2001-2013

Louis Braille, benefactor to the blind, was born today in 1809

Louis Braille, né le 4 janvier 1809 à Coupvray, près de Paris, et mort le 6 janvier 1852, est l'inventeur du système d'écriture tactile à points saillants, à l'usage des personnes aveugles ou fortement malvoyantes : le braille. Louis Braille (4 January 1809 – 6 January 1852) was a French educator and inventor of a system of reading and writing for use by the blind or visually impaired. His system remains known worldwide simply as braille.

Louis Braille | Braille close-up

Plaque: 2, rue des Écoles
Louis Braille 1809-1852 L'inventeur du braille a conçu son système universel à cet emplacement, lorsque l'institut des jeunes aveugles s'y trouvait de 1816 à 1843. INJA 2002	Louis Braille 1809-1852 The Braille system's inventor designed it here, where the institut des jeunes aveugles (Institute for Blind Youth) stood between 1816 and 1843. INJA 2002

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Copyrights: Images hotlinked from Wikipedia Commons retain their licences. All other pictures are CC-BY-NC-SA, Serendiparis, 2001-2013