Ariel Durant (; born Chaya Kaufman; May 10, 1898 – October 25, 1981) was a Ukrainian-born American researcher and writer. She was the coauthor of The Story of Civilization with her husband, Will Durant. They were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.
Biography
thumb|Ariel and Will Durant in the library of their home in Los Angeles, 1967
Durant was born Chaya Kaufman in Proskurov, Russian Empire (now Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine), to Jewish parents Ethel Appel Kaufman and Joseph Kaufman. Ariel later went by Ida. The family emigrated in 1900, living for several months in London 1900–01 en route to the United States, where they arrived in 1901. She had three older sisters, Sarah, Mary, and Flora, and three older brothers, Harry, Maurice, and Michael. The wedding took place at New York City Hall, to which she roller-skated from her family's home in Harlem. The couple had one daughter, Ethel Benvenuta Durant (1919–1986)
The Durants wrote a 420-page joint autobiography, published by Simon & Schuster in 1978 (A Dual Autobiography; later ).
The Durants died within two weeks of each other in 1981, with Ariel dying on October 25 and Will following on November 7. and are buried at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. Ariel told Ethel's daughter, Monica Mehill, that it was their differences that made them grow.