I’ve read my fair share of tragic stories. Some of them were beyond my wildest imagination. Others have inspired some of the most horrific novels out there.
Few stories could be both. That makes Blanche Monnier’s story one of the saddest tales you could read. It’s the story of a girl who unfairly lost most of her life because of one mistake.
If you want to learn more about her, this post covers everything you need to know.
Blanche Monnier’s Biography
Born on March 1, 1849, Blanche Monnier was a French socialite who grew up in the noble bourgeoisie family of Charles and Louise Monnier. She was like one of those fictional 18th-century girls born into a wealthy family: Beautiful, charming, and pure-natured.
Everything about her childhood hinted that she would have a luxurious life. Unfortunately, life isn’t always that simple.
What Happened to Blanche Monnier?
As you can probably tell, Monnier attracted countless suitors throughout the years. She didn’t connect with any of them, though, and in hindsight, that might have been the origin of her downfall.
When she was 27, Blanche fell in love with a lawyer, but her mother disapproved of that relationship. Why? First, he was older than her. Second, he was poor.
Of course, such a bourgeois woman would never allow her daughter to marry a “penniless lawyer,” she asked Blanche to find a more suitable suitor.
Monnier insisted on marrying her lover, though, which angered her mother. So, she decided to lock her in the dark attic of their house, and the gorgeous girl disappeared from the world without a trace.
Some people noticed her disappearance and asked where she was, but Louise told them she was traveling. Over time, they assumed Monnier had moved overseas permanently and stopped asking about her, not knowing she was trapped under the cruelest conditions.
The scary part? Louise and Marcel, Monnier’s brother, went on with their lives as if they hadn’t done anything. They even pretended to mourn Blanche’s departure to lift the suspicions off them.
The Search
On May 23, 1901, 25 years after Monnier’s disappearance, a letter was sent to the Attorney General of Paris. It read:
“Monsieur Attorney General, I am honored to inform you of a severe occurrence. I speak of a spinster locked up in Madame Monnier’s house, half-starved, and living on a putrid litter for the past twenty-five years — in a word, in her own filth.”
As the sender was anonymous, and still is to this day, the Attorney General was skeptical of the letter’s claim. However, the image it described was too disturbing not to investigate. So, he sent a few officers to the Monnier household.
The family wasn’t expecting this unfortunate visit and tried to stop the investigators from entering, but the officers quickly forced their way in.
At the beginning of their search, they didn’t find anything unusual. However, as they delved deeper into research, they noticed a weird smell coming from the attic. The closer they got, the stronger it became.
When they reached the attic, they realized it was locked, and with the Monnier family not cooperating, they decided to force it open. That’s when they saw one of the most shocking images in France’s history.
The Revelation
The moment the officers opened the door, they were hit with the overwhelming smell of feces and body odor. They saw the silhouette of a person, but the room was too dark to identify who it was. When they pulled the curtains, they saw her. Blanche Monnier.
She was old, frail, and malnourished. She weighed around 56 pounds. The woman who once dazzled France’s men with beauty and charm was lying on a deteriorating bed, full of urine, bugs, and rotten food.
One of the officers at the scene described it as such: “The unfortunate woman was laying completely naked on a rotten straw mattress. All around her was a crust made from excrement, fragments of meat, vegetables, fish, and rotten bread.”
He elaborated: “The air was so unbreathable, the odor given off by the room was so rank, that we couldn’t stay any longer to proceed with our investigation.”
Yes, the officers couldn’t stay at the scene for long and sent for other investigators to transport Blanche to a hospital. After being taken to the hospital, Monnier expressed how lovely it was to breathe fresh air again.
The Treatment
When Monnier reached the hospital, the nurses got to work immediately. They bathed her, cut her messy hair, and treated her physical injuries.
To everyone’s surprise, she recovered splendidly—physically, at least. Unfortunately, she never regained her vibrant, charming personality. In fact, she had to relearn how to eat with utensils, use the bathroom, and carry a normal conversation.
Don’t get me wrong, she maintained a gentle attitude, thanking her nurses for caring for her whenever possible. However, she was diagnosed with several disorders, including schizophrenia, coprophilia, anorexia nervosa, and exhibitionism.
That’s too much of a psychological burden for one person to carry. It wasn’t long before she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital and spent the rest of her days there.
What Happened to Monnier’s Family
Monnier’s mother and brother were both arrested, but they didn’t fully face the consequences of their actions.
Louise’s Trial
You’d think getting caught red-handed would prompt Louise to confess her crime, but she denied the confinement allegations.
She claimed that Monnier had had a mental breakdown and that she was the one who locked herself in the attic. She also said that she tried to help Blanche as much as possible, offering to bathe her and dress her appropriately, but Monnier refused her help.
These claims didn’t help her case, and the cops arrested her anyway. Louise didn’t stay long there, though. After one night, she became quite sick and had to be transported to a hospital.
Eventually, she died of heart failure without facing any legal punishment. Her son, on the other hand, was still on trial.
Marcel’s Trial
The authorities were certain Marcel knew what Louise had done to Blanche but refused to help her. So, they charged him with criminal confinement.
Marcel wouldn’t have it, though. He insisted he was innocent and restated that Blanche chose to stay in the attic and could get out at any moment.
No one believed him, and he was sentenced to 15 months in prison. Unfortunately, like his mother, he didn’t stay long in prison. No, it’s not because he also had heart complications.
Marcel was discharged because the authorities viewed him as mentally incapacitated, so the judge couldn’t convict him.
Blanche Monnier’s Legacy
If you’ve never heard the real story of Blanche Monnier, you might have heard about the fictional version. The French author André Gide studied the case documents and was deeply moved by the story.
So, he used it as inspiration for his novel, La Séquestrée de Poitiers (The Confined Woman of Poitiers). He retold the same events and only changed the names of the characters.
Blanche Monnier’s Death
Blanche Monnier never healed from the trauma of 25 years of imprisonment and died on October 13, 1913, at the age of 69, more than a decade after her rescue.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, Blanche Monnier’s story is that of horror, tragedy, and heartbreak. She’s a woman who wanted to follow her heart and paid the price dearly.
While there isn’t a defined silver lining here, I think we should all applaud this brave woman for surviving this long in these cruel living conditions.
