Dates in Simone Weil's brief life (1909-1943) |
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February
5, 1909
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Simone Weil was born in Paris. There is an amusing account of her childhood in chapter 1 of Plessix Gray's irreverent biography She and her elder brother André rival in brilliance and are raised by their parents as child prodigies. (André became a famous mathematician.) |
Weil at 13 |
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1925
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Studies with the philosopher Alain (Emile Chartier) at the Lycée Henri IV. At first, Alain reportedly nicknames her "the Martian". | ||
1930
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The beginning of lengthy, painful migraines that will plague her for the rest of her life | ||
1931
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Weil receives her agrégation (similar to doctorate) in philosophy from the Ecole Normale with a thesis entitled Science & Perception in Descartes. She graduates first in her class, her namesake Simone de Beauvoir is second. Her tireless political and trade union efforts earn Weil the cruel nickname of "the Red Virgin". |
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December
31, 1931
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The Weils take in Trostky who is travelling near Barbizon to meet with foreign militants. Simone has a discussion with Trotsky who gets upset. She tells him : "You are the idealistic one. You are the one calling a servant class the dominant class" in the URSS (60) |
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August-September
1935
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In a poor Portuguese village watching alone the procession of fishermen wives and boats, she will write much later : "Là jai eu soudain la certitude que le christianisme est par excellence la religion des esclaves, que des esclaves ne peuvent pas ne pas y adhérer, et moi parmi des autres. " (65) (There I suddenly had the certitude that christianity is the religion of slaves par excellence, that slaves cannot not adhere to it, and I too along with the others). |
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1937
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"In 1937 I had two marvelous days at Assisi. There, alone in the little twelfth century Romanesque chapel of Santa Maria degli Angeli, an incomparable marvel of purity where Saint Francis often used to pray, something stronger than I was compelled me for the first time in my life to go down on my knees." | ||
1938
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She reads the entire Ancient Testament for the first time In April she stays at the abbey of Solesmes to follow the Easter week services. She hears Gregorian chants and discovers the English metaphysical poets, including George Herbert (74) |
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November
1938
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While reciting Herbert's poem Love she feels Christ's presence. She writes later "Christ himself came down and took me." (771) | ||
March
1939
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At the age of 30, she abandons her pacificism, "mon erreur criminelle" (my criminal error) which she attributes to years of physical pain violent headaches | ||
1941
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Prays for the first time, by reciting the Our Father in original Greek. Despite repeatedly feeling the presence of Christ and a yearning for communion she decides not to be baptized because she sees the need for a profound reform of the Roman Catholic church Weil starts writing the Cahiers which Gustave Thibon will edit to create La Pésanteur et la Grace (Gravity and Grace) |
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April
1942
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In Marseille, she and her family prepare a trip to New York. In a few weeks she writes the essays and articles which will be assembled in Attente de Dieu (Waiting for God) and Pensées sans ordre sur lamour de Dieu (Thoughts without order on the love of God) which she transmits to the blind Father Perrin who will edit Attente de Dieu. |
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July 1942 |
In New York, the Weils live in an apartment at 594 Riverside Drive. Simone meets Jacques Maritain who is teaching at the New School. |
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November
1942
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Simone lands in Liverpool. She goes to London and writes texts for the Free French which will become L'Enracinement (The Need for Roots) | ||
April 1943 |
Simone is admited to Middlesex Hospital suffering from malnutrition, exhaustion and tuberculosis | ||
May
1943
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She rereads the Baghavad Gita in Sanskrit | ||
July
1943
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She quits her job with the Free French, and has violent arguments with Maurice Schumann | ||
August
1943
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She is transferred to the Ashford Sanatorium in Kent county | ||
August
24, 1943
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After a life of self-imposed privation, Simone Weil dies from heart failure at the age of 34 | ||
Simone Weil is buried in Ashfords New Cemetery, in the section reserved for Catholics. | |||
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