Jean-Paul Sartre is a well-known figure in the field of philosophy and literature , being considered one of the fathers of contemporary existentialism. Philosopher, writer and political activist, he considered that the human being is a free being and that as such he must take responsibility for his own destiny, even though external conditioning factors may exist.

In addition, Sartre is also known for his political activism, maintaining a complex relationship with communism. He was even nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, although he decided to decline the award due to his personal beliefs. In order to understand his vision of the world it may be useful to understand his life, which is why in this article we will review a short biography of Jean-Paul Sartre , who marked the philosophy of the 20th century.

Short biography of Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was born on June 21, 1905 in the city of Paris, France, being the son of a naval officer named Jean Baptiste Sartre and Anne Marie Schweitzer .

However, a few months after his birth, his father died from an illness contracted during his travels. His mother, with the help of Jean-Paul’s maternal grandparents, would educate him in a stimulating and intellectual environment. His grandfather also introduced him to the arts.

Academic background of this philosopher

In 1915, at the age of ten, Sartre entered the Lycée Henri IV in Paris to begin his education . However, his mother would meet and remarry Joseph Mancy, causing young Sartre to move to La Rochelle. It was at the Lycée there that he would continue his studies until 1920, when he would return to Paris and finish his education at his original institute.

After finishing his secondary studies, he entered the École Normale Supérieure in Paris in 1924 to pursue his university studies. During these studies he would meet different people who in the future would become great authors, among them the one who would become his main sentimental companion (they would establish throughout his life an open relationship that was controversial for the time), Simone de Beauvoir. He received his doctorate in philosophy in 1929, being the first of his class (followed by De Beauvoir).

Sartre’s post-doctoral life and first publications

After receiving his doctorate, he began to work in various institutes as a professor of philosophy, such as the Lycée de Havre. Later, in 1933, he obtained a scholarship that allowed him to travel to Germany and train in the philosophy of different authors such as Edmund Husserl (exploring phenomenology) at the French Institute in Berlin.

After that he would return to France, teaching again in high schools like the Pasteur. At this stage he would begin to elaborate his notion that existence precedes essence, since we have to be in order to choose. This idea was set out in his first novel, published in 1938 and entitled La nausea . During 1939 he would begin to write other of his great works, among them El ser y la nada .

War and Post-War

The arrival of World War II would cause Sartre to be called up , participating in the war and being captured by the Germans in 1940. In 1941 he managed to escape posing as a civilian, and supported and participated in the French resistance.

In 1943 he published his most important and well-known work on a philosophical level, El ser y la nada , in which he offered his version of existentialist philosophy. This work, influenced to a great extent by the existentialism of Heidegger (considered at that time a great authority in this philosophical trend) and other authors such as Husserl or Kierkegaard, would lead him to achieve great popularity.

Eventually, in 1945 he decided to abandon teaching and devote himself fully to literary and philosophical creation as a writer . Together with his partner Simone de Beauvoir and other authors such as Raymond Aron, he founded the magazine Les temps modernes , which was very influential at the time.

His political activism

As mentioned above, Sartre is also known for his political activism, having been active in this field for a long time. Such activism would be particularly active after 1947. Socialist in outlook, the author was critical of the Cold War and the actions of both the American and Soviet blocs.

In spite of the existence of divergences, he has a rapprochement towards communist ideas, travelling on numerous occasions to Moscow and forming part of different associations. He would also support the Cuban revolution and the Chinese cultural revolution.

In 1964 the name of Sartre was proposed for the Nobel Prize in Literature . However, the author decided to reject the award because he considered that the link between author and reader did not need intermediaries.

He also participated actively in the revolt of May 1968 and openly condemned the Vietnam War and the war crimes committed there , collaborating in the formation of the International Tribunal in Stockholm.

The author also continues to publish a number of works during this period. In 1973, he and Maurice Clavel created the “Liberation” agency, which later became a newspaper of which he would be the director.

Last years and death

However, over the years Sartre’s health began to decline, he lost his sight and had to withdraw gradually from literary creation.

In May 1980, Jean-Paul Sartre was admitted to Broussais Hospital in Paris due to pulmonary edema and hypertensive crisis . On April 15, 1980, this edema was complicated by a cardiac crisis that would eventually cause his death, at nine o’clock at night, in the company of Simone De Beauvoir and her adopted daughter Arlette El Kaim.

The legacy of this author is broad, bringing the focus of philosophy to the problems between the self and society. Likewise his ideas have influenced disciplines such as psychology , contributing to the thought and creation of the humanist current.