This is a case study of the life and death of Simone Weil, a philosophy professor and social activist who died of self-imposed starvation in 1943. Weil was a highly intelligent woman, yet had many social difficulties, relying heavily on her parents for support. Weil devoted her life to social change. Involved in unions,she left her teaching post to work in a factory and later became involved in WW2 and the French rebellion. Weil died shortly after being placed in a sanitarium for self abuse.