The questions Simone de Beauvoir posed in French resonate with equal urgency in every language. This book offers a concentrated introduction to the thinker’s world and an exploration of her feminist, political, and atheistic thought. Viewed through both Belarusian and pan-European lenses, de Beauvoir emerges as a relevant interlocutor for contemporary Belarus.

The phrase "Simone de Beauvoir and Belarus" sounds much like "Simone de Beauvoir and Oceania" or even "Simone de Beauvoir and Mars"—utopian, unimaginable, or at the very least, artificial and far-fetched. Yet, beneath this apparent artificiality and contrived nature lies a compelling subject. It is not merely a matter of Simone de Beauvoir and her influence on Belarus—on its cultural and feminist intellectual landscape—but rather of the enduring complexities of the dialogue between Belarus and France, spanning both the imperial (Russian-Soviet) era and the period that followed.