Simone Weil Weil died at the age of 34 of tuberculosis and self-neglect in Ashford on August 24, 1943. She refused food and medical treatment out of sympathy for the plight of the people of Occupied France. This act hastened her death, although it is debated whether her death was a result of actual suicide or mental illness.Weil also believed that one must "decreate" oneself to return to God.