Grosvenor Sanatorium

Grosvenor Sanatorium was the final recorded location in Simone Weil’s life. Situated in Ashford, Kent, it became the place where she spent the last week before her death in August 1943.

Setting and Role

The account identifies Grosvenor Sanatorium as being in Ashford, Kent. It does not describe the institution’s facilities or its wider history; its significance here rests on its role as Weil’s final place of care.

Weil’s Transfer

After several weeks in hospital, Weil was moved to the sanatorium on August 17, 1943. She was still refusing food. The account gives no further details about the circumstances of her transfer or her care at the institution.

Death and Significance

Weil died at Grosvenor Sanatorium on August 24, one week after arriving. The coroner attributed her death to cardiac failure associated with starvation and pulmonary tuberculosis, and concluded that her refusal to eat occurred while her mental balance was disturbed. The sanatorium thus marks the closing point of the account of her life: a precise place and short interval associated with her final decline, rather than a setting developed independently of her story.