Simone Weil

Simone Weil (1909–1943) was a French philosopher, mystic, and activist. She trained at the École Normale Supérieure, taught philosophy in provincial lycées, worked in factories, and served in the Spanish Civil War, writing on labour, religion, and politics. Her essays and notebooks, published posthumously, include Gravity and Grace, The Need for Roots, and Waiting for God. She died in England in 1943, having refused to eat more than the rations of occupied France.