On May 23, 1901, an anonymous letter was sent to the desk of the Paris prosecutor general, the content of which shocked the inhabitants of France. "I would like to inform you of an extraordinary incident. We are talking about an old maid who is imprisoned in Mrs. Monnier's house. Half-starved, she has been living in her own impurity for 25 years."
The Monnier family mentioned in the letter was an old aristocratic family living in Poitiers. Their mansion was located in an elegant part of the city and was inhabited by the doyen of the family, Louise Monnier, and her son, Marcel.
In the first moments, the policemen did not want to believe the content of the anonymous, but they were obliged to check its credibility. So they went to Monnier's house and asked to look around. Madame Louise was not delighted with the vision of the inspection, but eventually the officers entered the building, and what they discovered shocked the whole country.
Blanche Monnier shortly after being found in the room where she was held
At first glance, everything looked normal in the Monnier house. Order reigned, and the rooms were nothing special. However, after a long examination, the officers' attention was caught by a locked door room . The lady of the house explained that it was an insignificant storeroom, but the policemen were not convinced. They demanded to be allowed inside.
Immediately after opening the door, the officers intoxicated the eerie stench. It was so strong that they had to change every now and then in the room, because staying in it for a long time made them nauseous. All the windows of this small bedroom were boarded up, which made the room almost perfectly dark. After their removal, the police became convinced that what had been written in the anonymous letter to the prosecutor was true.
Before them, on the bed lay a terrified naked woman with matted hair and a horribly thin body. It was Blanche Monnier, Louise's daughter who had been considered missing for over 25 years.
Innocence taken away
Blanche Monnier was born on March 1, 1849. The girl grew up under the watchful eye of a rather despotic and controlling mother, who cared only about one thing:to marry her daughter as best as possible, which at first glance did not seem like a difficult task .
Blanche grew up to be a woman of dazzling beauty. She had beautiful, thick dark hair and large, mesmerizing eyes. In addition, a pleasant and gentle disposition made her almost the perfect candidate for a wife for any man. Cavaliers lined up for her, but none of them turned her head back enough. Until, of course.
Blanche Monnier in 1901
At the age of 25, Blanche met and fell madly in love with an older lawyer. Unfortunately, her mother did not like this choice. The daughter's chosen one did not live up to Louise's expectations of her potential son-in-law. He did not come from an influential family, and he was not very successful in his profession. Blanche, however, decided to get her way and got engaged to her lover. The bride and groom did not have a long time to enjoy their happiness, because a few days after the announcement of the joyful news, the girl disappeared.
On March 1, 1875, Louise Monnier reported her daughter missing to the police . Many people in Poitiers knew about the conflict between the two women, so it was initially believed that Blanche had escaped with her lover. However, it turned out to be untrue very quickly, because the girl's chosen one was still in the city, and no trace of her was found.
Even the public search, which included not only the local police, but also the press publicizing the matter, did not help. The Monnier family mourned the tragedy that befell them for a long time, and time did not bring any answers. It took more than a quarter of a century for the truth to finally come out.
A terrifying discovery
As one of the policemen sent to the Monnier house recalled later:
“The unfortunate woman was lying completely naked on a rotten mattress. A crust of excrement, pieces of meat, vegetables, fish and rotten bread has formed around her ... We also saw oyster shells and worms running around mademoiselle Monnier's bed. The air was not breathable and the smell of the room was so strong that we could not stay any longer to continue our investigation. "
For a quarter of a century, Blanche, 52, saw the light of day, and no one - except her mother, brother, and housekeepers - for a quarter of a century. Later medical examinations showed that her body was completely devastated. She weighed only 25 kg, which made her body look like it was all skin and bones . For all medics, the fact that she managed to survive such a long period in such terrible conditions was a miracle.
The nurses who looked after Blanche later recalled how cordial and kind she was to them. The woman was very happy that she could finally be washed thoroughly and looked at the daylight again. Unfortunately, over 25 years of confinement led to severe photophobia, which prevented her from enjoying the daylight permanently.
Drawing of Blanche's discovery in 1901
The woman also told a terrifying story about how she was locked up by her mother. She was to remain locked up until she renounced her love. Blanche never did that . In return, Louise decided to keep her daughter in a house prison even after the death of her fiancé 9 years later. All this time, she fed her peelings and leftovers, although there were times when she did not get even this mediocre substitute for meals. Blanche's only company was rats and cockroaches that infested her room.
And justice… was not done
The press dubbed Monnier's daughter "imprisoned with Poitiers," and her story quickly spread throughout the country, causing widespread horror and indignation. Mother and brother were arrested, but Louise died of a heart attack 15 days after the case was disclosed. Apparently her last words were "Ah, my poor Blanche."
Marcel Monnier was brought before a court and was sentenced to 15 months in prison for complicity. However, he did not serve the sentence, as he appealed against him very quickly. He claimed that he never forced his sister to remain confined, and it was all the brainchild of a Machiavellian parent. Despite widespread public outcry and protests in court, the case was settled in his favor: Marcel Monnier was acquitted.
Blanche Monnier before imprisonment was a beautiful woman, but controlled by her mother
During the trial, it also came to light that - apart from the family and servants - the neighbors might also have known about the girl's closure. It turned out that they had heard screams coming from the Monnier's house more than once, but they never intervened. In fact, there were no guilty parties in this case, as the law of that time did not yet provide for a penalty for not providing help.
Until today, the author of the anonymous who helped to see this tragedy come to light is unknown. Some believe it was an outsider, someone who accidentally learned of Blanche's misfortune . Others claim that it could have been Marcel himself, who, realizing his mother's old age, wanted to reveal his sister's detention during her lifetime, and thus make the mother responsible for the mother.
And how did the fate of Blanche herself go? Unfortunately, her return to society was not possible for her. She never fully recovered, neither physically nor mentally. She spent the rest of her life in a psychiatric facility, where she died 12 years later, in 1913. She was 64 at the time.