Simone de Beauvoir – Deceased At 78 – Philosopher

Watching the uncanny Simone de Beauvoir walk down the aisle would make no sense whatsoever. A passionate and opinionated philosopher, she enjoyed an incredibly controversial relationship with fellow existentialist thinker Jean-Paul Sartre. The loving duo shocked the progressive city of Paris by having a pioneering open relationship.

Besides helping popularize the idea that love should be free from all social norms and stipulations, Beauvoir made a name for herself as a feminist icon. Her legendary 1949 book The Second S*x is still a reference manual for analyzing the role of women in the history of Western society.