Ariel Durant, born Chaya Kaufman, (May 10 1898-October 25 1981) was the co-author of The Story of Civilization.
Durant was born in Proskurov in Russia to Ethel Appel Kaufman and Joseph Kaufman. The family emigrated to the United States in 1901. She met her future husband, Will Durant, while a student at Ferrer Modern School in New York. Will was a teacher at the school at the time, but resigned his post in order to marry Ariel.
Ariel was nominated as “Woman of the Year” by the Los Angeles Times. Ariel and Will Durant were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for literature in 1968 for Rousseau and Revolution, the tenth volume of The Story of Civilization. Ariel and Will were presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Gerald Ford in 1977.
The Durants’ autobiography A Dual Autobiography was published in 1978. ISBN 0671230786
Ariel Durant and her husband are buried in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.