Who was Blanche Monnier?

Blanche Monnier (1849-1913) was a French aristocratic socialite from a well-respected, conservative family in Poitiers of old noble origins. Blanche was very beautiful. In 1874, at the age of 25, she fell in love with an ordinary lawyer by profession. But her mother refused him as he was not aristocratic and well-known in society. Her disapproving mother, angered by her daughter's defiance, locked her in a tiny, dark room in the attic of their home, where she kept secluded for 25 years. Twenty-five years had passed in this way in isolation. She was provided meals through a closed window. In 1885, Blanche's beloved man died. But her status as a prisoner remained the same.

Then, 25 years later, in 1901, an anonymous letter reached the Attorney General of Paris. It said Monnier's family has kept one person locked in their home for many years. On order, when soldiers searched the house, they found a woman chained in one corner of a dark room. Monnier Blanche was lying in a small bed between rotten food and billions of insects, weighing barely 25 kilograms (55 lb). She had serious mental problems. She was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in France. Until her death in 1913, she spent the rest of her life there. She got this punishment for the 'crime' of trying to marry a man she loved at the hands of her aristocratic mother. Fifteen days after she was rescued, her mother died of a heart attack in panic as an angry mob gathered in front of their house.