History Creator / JeanPaulSartre

-> ''Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.''
-->-- '''Sartre''', ''Being and Nothingness''

* ''The Family Idiot / L'idiot de la famille'' (1971–72)

Sartre greatly influenced post-war writers such as Creator/RolandBarthes, Claude Lanzmann, the Nouveau Roman writers, the UsefulNotes/FrenchNewWave, Iris Murdoch, Creator/PaulSchrader, Creator/WoodyAllen among many others. He was considered a heroic figure among 60s radicals in France and the Anglophone and even UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle on learning of his arrest during May'68, ordered his release, stating "You don't arrest Creator/{{Voltaire}}''. Most famously, Sartre won the Nobel Prize in 1964, but rejected the award. Almost equally famously, he also claimed he occasionally saw crabs everywhere, as an after-effect of his brief experimentation with hallucinogenics.

Sartre greatly influenced post-war writers such as Creator/RolandBarthes, Claude Lanzmann, the Nouveau Roman writers, the UsefulNotes/FrenchNewWave, Iris Murdoch, Creator/PaulSchrader, Creator/WoodyAllen among many others. He was considered a heroic figure among 60s radicals in France and the Anglophone and even UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle on learning of his arrest during May'68, ordered his release, stating "You don't arrest Creator/{{Voltaire}}''. Most famously, Sartre won the Nobel Prize in 1964, but rejected the award.

Politically, Sartre was attracted to Marxism but for most of his career he served as a "fellow traveler". He was often accused by his critics of being soft on Stalinism and for suppressing information about the Katyn massacre, as well as his support for UsefulNotes/FidelCastro and UsefulNotes/CheGuevara. Sartre did criticize the Soviet invasion of Hungary as well as the Doctor's Plot of Stalin, and the homophobic crackdowns in UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}},[[note]]In an interview with Spanish cinematographer-film-maker Nestor Alemdros, Sartre said: "In Cuba there are no Jews, but there are homosexuals", likening homophobia to antisemitism in Germany[[/note]] but seemed to many to be far more harsh on the United States and France then he was on the Iron Curtain. Communists criticized existentialism for being a bourgeois philosophy of freedom that seemed to appeal mainly to middle-class teenagers, the kind who eventually broke out in protest in May'68 (and revolted against Gaullism ''and'' the French Communist Party). The academic Edward Said likewise slammed Sartre for being too pro-Israel. His introduction to Frantz Fanon's ''The Wretched on the Earth'' remains controversial for Sartre's vocal support of African rebels killing European civilians. Regardless, Sartre was considered sufficiently influential that his funeral in 1980 was greeted with a parade of 50,000 mourners.

Contrary to his philosophical views, which are considered highly valuable and influential till this day, Sartre's political agenda today is unlikely to be appreciated by anyone hailing from anywhere outside the most extreme left wing. He was attracted to Marxism but for most of his career he served as a "fellow traveler". He was often accused by his critics of being soft on Stalinism and for suppressing information about the Katyn massacre, as well as his support for UsefulNotes/FidelCastro and UsefulNotes/CheGuevara, which was enough for him to earn the label of a staple French "[[UsefulNotes/UnwittingPawn useful idiot]]": an intellectual firmly devoted to excusing any sort of attrocity commited in the name of socialist revolution. Sartre did to some extent criticize the Soviet invasion of Hungary as well as the Doctor's Plot of Stalin, but he did not distance himself from the Soviet-style Marxism nearly as completely as did most of his peers in the intellectual circles of Western Europe. He was also critical of the homophobic crackdowns in UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}},[[note]]In an interview with Spanish cinematographer-film-maker Nestor Alemdros, Sartre said: "In Cuba there are no Jews, but there are homosexuals", likening homophobia to antisemitism in Germany[[/note]] but seemed to many to be far more harsh on the United States and France then he was on the Iron Curtain. Communists criticized existentialism for being a bourgeois philosophy of freedom that seemed to appeal mainly to middle-class teenagers, the kind who eventually broke out in protest in May'68 (and revolted against Gaullism ''and'' the French Communist Party). The academic Edward Said likewise slammed Sartre for being too pro-Israel. His introduction to Frantz Fanon's ''The Wretched on the Earth'' remains controversial for Sartre's vocal support of African rebels killing European civilians, [[DoubleStandard something he surely would have condemned outright had the roles been reversed]].[[note]]A French critic noted sarcastically that seeing as Sartre seemed to hate the white race so vehemently, it was curious as to why he still had yet to commit suicide.[[/note]] However, possibly the single most controversial stand Sartre took in his life regards his attitude towards the infamous Cambodian Khmer Rouge and the subsequent genocide undetraken by the regime. Not only were many of the perpatrators former students of Sartre, allegedly greatly inspired by his lectures, but when inquired about the attrocities commited in Cambodia, he simply remarked "[[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized Revolution requires sacrifices]]". Regardless of all the above, he was considered sufficiently influential that his funeral in 1980 was greeted with a parade of 50,000 mourners.

* ''The Respectful Prostitute / La putain respectueuse'' (1946)

Contrary to his philosophical views, which are considered highly valuable and influential till this day, Sartre's political agenda today is unlikely to be appreciated by anyone hailing from anywhere outside the most extreme left wing. He was attracted to Marxism but for most of his career he served as a "fellow traveler". He was often accused by his critics of being soft on Stalinism and for suppressing information about the Katyn massacre, as well as his support for UsefulNotes/FidelCastro and UsefulNotes/CheGuevara, which was enough for him to earn the label of a staple French "UsefulNotes/UsefulIdiot": an intellectual firmly devoted to excusing any sort of attrocity commited in the name of socialist revolution. Sartre did to some extent criticize the Soviet invasion of Hungary as well as the Doctor's Plot of Stalin, but he did not distance himself from the Soviet-style Marxism nearly as completely as did most of his peers in the intellectual circles of Western Europe. He was also critical of the homophobic crackdowns in UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}},[[note]]In an interview with Spanish cinematographer-film-maker Nestor Alemdros, Sartre said: "In Cuba there are no Jews, but there are homosexuals", likening homophobia to antisemitism in Germany[[/note]] but seemed to many to be far more harsh on the United States and France then he was on the Iron Curtain. Communists criticized existentialism for being a bourgeois philosophy of freedom that seemed to appeal mainly to middle-class teenagers, the kind who eventually broke out in protest in May'68 (and revolted against Gaullism ''and'' the French Communist Party). The academic Edward Said likewise slammed Sartre for being too pro-Israel. His introduction to Frantz Fanon's ''The Wretched on the Earth'' remains controversial for Sartre's vocal support of African rebels killing European civilians, [[DoubleStandards something he surely would have condemned outright had the roles been reversed]].[[note]]A French critic noted sarcastically that seeing as Sartre seemed to hate the white race so vehemently, it was curious as to why he still had yet to commit suicide.[[/note]] However, possibly the single most controversial stand Sartre took in his life regards his attitude towards the infamous Cambodian Khmer Rouge and the subsequent genocide undetraken by the regime. Not only were many of the perpatrators former students of Sartre, allegedly greatly inspired by his lectures, but when inquired about the attrocities commited in Cambodia, he simply remarked "[[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized Revolution requires sacrifices]]". Regardless of all the above, he was considered sufficiently influential that his funeral in 1980 was greeted with a parade of 50,000 mourners.

Politically, Sartre was attracted to Marxism but for most of his career he served as a "fellow traveler". He was often accused by his critics of being soft on Stalinism and for suppressing information about the Katyn massacre, as well as his support for UsefulNotes/FidelCastro and UsefulNotes/CheGuevara. Sartre did criticize the Soviet invasion of Hungary as well as the Doctor's Plot of Stalin, and the homophobic crackdowns in UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}},[[note]]In an interview with Spanish cinematographer-film-maker Nestor Alemdros, Sartre said: "In Cuba there are no Jews, but there are homosexuals", likening homophobia to antisemitism in Germany[[/note]] but seemed to many to be far more harsh on the United States and France then he was on the Iron Curtain. Communists criticized existentialism for being a bourgeois philosophy of freedom that seemed to appeal mainly to middle-class teenagers, the kind who eventually broke out in protest in May'68 (and revolted against Gaullism ''and'' the French Communist Party). The academic Edward Said likewise slammed Sartre for being too pro-Israel. His introduction to Frantz Fanon's ''The Wretched on the Earth'' remains controversial for Sartre's vocal support of African rebels killing European civilians. Regardless, Sartre was considered sufficiently influential that his funeral in 1980 was greeted with a parade of 50,000 mourners.

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (1905--1980) was a philosopher, playwright, novelist, literary critic, screenwriter and political activist. He is acknowledged to be one of the most influential and controversial philosophers of the 20th Century. He is known to be the Father of UsefulNotes/{{Existentialism}}, the man who identified its precursors, codified it in a body of work that went on to become highly influential in the second half of the 20th Century.

Sartre was born in a middle-class family, which as he noted in his memoirs, ''The Words'', appeared to be a nuclear family but was in fact highly fragmented. His father was in the navy and was mostly not at home, and he died young. His mother then moved to her village and as a result Sartre was practically RaisedByGrandparents. The young Sartre was mostly left alone at a young age, filled with insecurity about his ugly looks (his famous FishEyes which got him teased and bullied) and his love of literature. From an early age, Sartre was conscious of loneliness and alienation, he did quickly grow out of it. At school, the École Normale Supérieure, Sartre proved to be brilliant, popular and a prankster. It was there that he met Simone de Beauvoir. His work during this time was as a literary critic and novelist. ''Nausea'' was published in 1938. When UsefulNotes/WorldWarII broke out, Sartre served the Army as a meteorologist and was captured in 1940, after French defeat. He was detained in a POW camp for 9 months before being released on April 1941 because of poor health. Sartre was opposed to the Occupation but his participation in LaResistance was restricted until the Liberation in 1944. He did try to form an underground journal and newspaper but this petered out, and Sartre mostly focused on doing his own research.

Politically, Sartre was attracted to Marxism but for most of his career he served as a "fellow traveller". He was often accused by his critics for being soft on Stalinism and for suppressing information about the Katyn massacre as well as his support for UsefulNotes/FidelCastro and UsefulNotes/CheGuevara. Sartre did criticize the Soviet Invasion of Hungary as well as the Doctor's Plot of Stalin, and the homophobic crackdowns in UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}}[[note]]In an interview with Franco-Cuban cinematographer-film-maker Nestor Alemdros, Sartre said: "In Cuba there are no Jews, but there are homosexuals", likening homophobia to antisemitism in Germany[[/note]], but seemed to many to be far more harsh on the United States and France then he was on the Iron Curtain. Communists criticized existentialism for being a bourgeois philosophy of freedom that seemed to appeal mainly to middle-class teenagers, the kind who eventually broke out in protest in May'68 (and revolted against Gaullism ''and'' the French Communist Party). The academic Edward Said likewised slammed Sartre for being too pro-Israel. His introduction to Frantz Fanon's ''The Wretched on the Earth'' remains controversial for Sartre's vocal support of African rebels to kill European civilians. Regardless, Sartre was considered sufficiently influential that his funeral in 1980 was greeted with a parade of 50,000 mourners.

Sartre greatly influenced post-war writers such as Creator/RolandBarthes, Claude Lanzmann, the Nouveau Roman writers, the UsefulNotes/FrenchNewWave, Iris Murdoch, Creator/PaulSchrader, Creator/WoodyAllen among many others. He was considered a heroic figure among 60s radicals in France and the Anglophone and even UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle on learning of his arrest during May'68, ordered his release, stating "You don't arrest Creator/{{Voltaire}}''. Most famously, Sartre won the Nobel Prize in 1964 but rejected the award.

Sartre was born in a middle-class family, which as he noted in his memoirs, ''The Words'', appeared to be a nuclear family but was in fact highly fragmented. His father was in the navy and was mostly not at home, and he died young. His mother then moved to her village and as a result Sartre was practically RaisedByGrandparents. The young Sartre was mostly left alone at a young age, filled with insecurity about his ugly looks (his famous FishEyes which got him teased and bullied) and his love of literature. From an early age, Sartre was conscious of loneliness and alienation, he did quickly grow out of it. At school, the École Normale Supérieure, Sartre proved to be brilliant, popular and a prankster. It was there that he met Simone de Beauvoir. His work during this time was as a literary critic and novelist. ''Nausea'' was published in 1938. When UsefulNotes/WorldWarII broke out, Sartre served the Army as a meteorologist and was captured in 1940, after German defeat. He was detained in a POW camp for 9 months before being released on April 1941 because of poor health. Sartre was opposed to the Occupation but his participation in LaResistance was restricted until the Liberation in 1944. He did try to form an underground journal and newspaper but this petered out, and Sartre mostly focused on doing his own research.

Politically, Sartre was attracted to Marxism but for most of his career he served as a "fellow traveller". He was often accused by his critics for being soft on Stalinism and for suppressing information about the Katyn massacre as well as his support for UsefulNotes/FidelCastro and UsefulNotes/CheGuevara. Sartre did criticize the Soviet Invasion of Hungary as well as the Doctor's Plot of Stalin, and the homophobic crackdowns in UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}}[[note]]In an interview with Franco-Cuban cinematographer-film-maker Nestor Alemdros, Sartre said: "In Cuba there are no Jews, but there are homosexuals", likening homophobia to anti-semitism in Germany[[/note]], but seemed to many to be far more harsh on the United States and France then he was on the Iron Curtain. Communists criticized existentialism for being a bourgeois philosophy of freedom that seemed to appeal mainly to middle-class teenagers, the kind who eventually broke out in protest in May'68 (and revolted against Gaullism ''and'' the French Communist Party). The academic Edward Said likewised slammed Sartre for being too pro-Israel. His introduction to Frantz Fanon's ''The Wretched on the Earth'' remains controversial for Sartre's vocal support of African rebels to kill European civilians. Regardless, Sartre was considered sufficiently influential that his funeral in 1980 was greeted with a parade of 50,000 mourners.

* ''The Family Idiot / L'idiot de la famille'' (1971–72)

It was during the war, that Sartre wrote his major works including his play ''No Exit'' and ''Being and Nothingness''. In 1944, he met Creator/AlbertCamus and they began a friendship that lasted until 1951. In the immediate post-war era, Sartre wrote ''Anti-Semite and Jew'', an analysis of the anti-semitism that led to the collaboration, the rise of Nazism and UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust. He also launched his famous journal ''Les Temps Modernes''. Central to Sartre's ideas was UsefulNotes/{{Existentialism}}, a call for radical freedom and responsibility. Related to this was the idea of ''engagement'', i.e. a writer and philosopher must engage with his surroundings and participate in the social issues of their time. Sartre sought to appeal to a larger audience by writing on issues outside the academic world of philosophy, by writing for newspapers, magazines and working as a journalist and cultural critic. Sartre wrote on various political issues and he was especially committed to decolonization (he was a vocal supporter of Algerian Independence), sexual freedom and anti-racism. He continued to work as a novelist and playwright. He even wrote the screenplay for Creator/JohnHuston's ''Freud: The Secret Passion'' but withdrew credit upon having his script shortened by Huston (even if Huston notes that most of the film was written by him). His most important work after the war is ''Critique of Dialectial Reason'' among his philosophical works and ''Saint Genet'' and ''The Family Idiot'' among his works of literary criticism.

Sartre greatly influenced post-war writers such as Creator/RolandBarthes, Claude Lanzmann, the Nouveau Roman writers, the UsefulNotes/FrenchNewWave, Iris Murdoch, Creator/WoodyAllen among many others. He was considered a heroic figure among 60s radicals in France and the Anglophone and even UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle on learning of his arrest during May'68, ordered his release, stating "You don't arrest Creator/{{Voltaire}}''. Most famously, Sartre won the Nobel Prize in 1964 but rejected the award.

* ''No Exit / Huis clos'' (1944)

Sartre was born in a middle-class family, which as he noted in his memoirs, ''The Words'', appeared to be a nuclear family but was in fact highly fragmented. His father was in the navy and was mostly not at home, and he died young. His mother then moved to her village and as a result Sartre was practically RaisedByGrandparents. The young Sartre was mostly left alone at a young age, filled with insecurity about his ugly looks (his famous FishEyes which got him teased and bullied) and his love of literature. From an early age, Sartre was conscious of loneliness and alienation, he did quickly grow out of it. At school, the École Normale Supérieure, Sartre proved to be brilliant, popular and a prankster. It was there that he met Simone de Beauvoir. His work during this time was as a literary critic and novelist. ''Nausea'' was published in 1938.

When UsefulNotes/WorldWarII broke out, Sartre served the Army as a meteorologist and was captured in 1940, after German defeat. He was detained in a POW camp for 9 months before being released on April 1941 because of poor health. Sartre was opposed to the Occupation but his participation in LaResistance was restricted until the Liberation in 1944. He did try to form an underground journal and newspaper but this petered out, and Sartre mostly focused on doing his own research. It was during the war, that Sartre wrote his major works including his play ''No Exit'' and ''Being and Nothingness''. In 1944, he met Creator/AlbertCamus and they began a friendship that lasted until 1951. In the immediate post-war era, Sartre wrote ''Anti-Semite and Jew'', an analysis of the anti-semitism that led to the collaboration, the rise of Nazism and UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust. He also launched his famous journal ''Les Temps Modernes''. Central to Sartre's ideas was UsefulNotes/{{Existentialism}}, a call for radical freedom and responsibility. Related to this was the idea of "engagement", i.e. a writer and philosopher must engage with his surroundings and participate in the social issues of their time. Sartre became disillusioned with the academic world of philosophy and after the war he began writing for non-academic journals, as well as serving as a journalist and cultural critic. Sartre wrote on various political issues and he was especially committed to decolonization and anti-racism.