Jean-Paul Sartre

Sartre, Jean-Paul (1905–80), French philosopher, novelist, and playwright, exponent of existentialism. His writings reflect his vision of the human being as master of his or her own fate, with each life defined by a person's actions: “Existence precedes essence.” His works include Being and Nothingness (1943); the novels Nausea (1938) and The Roads to Freedom, a trilogy (1945–49); and the plays The Flies (1943) and No Exit (1944). Sartre founded the review Les Temps Modernes in 1945. A close associate of Simone de Beauvoir and a Communist who spoke eloquently for the left, his influence was international. In 1964 he refused the Nobel Prize for literature.

See also: Existentialism.