Simone de Beauvoir was a French writer, philosopher, political activist, and feminist. She is best known for her 1949 treatise 'The Second Sex', which is considered a foundational text of contemporary feminism. Her close relationship with Jean-Paul Sartre, who she met in 1929, is well documented. They were lifelong companions and intellectual partners, and their relationship was often referred to as a 'marriage of minds'. She was also a close friend of American author and philosopher, Nelson Algren, whom she met in 1947. The two maintained a long-distance relationship until his death in 1981. De Beauvoir's other works include 'The Blood of Others' (1945), 'The Mandarins' (1954), and 'Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter' (1958). The answers to the crossword are SIMONE (6 letters), SIMONES (7 letters), SARTRE (6 letters), AMIE (4 letters), BILOXI (6 letters), EAU (3 letters), and NOM (3 letters).