Monique Wittig was born in Paris, France on July 2, 1942, the only daughter of a distinguished and internationally acclaimed writer and a French woman of German descent. Her father was a charter member of the French Resistance and his wartime work earned him a posthumous medal of honor from the U.S. government. At the age of two, Monique fell ill with meningitis; she spent six months in an isolation ward and then went into a severe depression
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When she emerged from that state, she could not speak or walk. Her mother took her to a Freudian analyst who diagnosed her as having "a complex of castration complex." After two years of analysis, Monique was still unable to speak; she began writing poetry. An aunt introduced her to Jungian psychology, which became the primary philosophy informing her work throughout her life.