Marie Wittman
Marie Wittman | |
---|---|
Born | Paris, France | April 15, 1859
Died | 1913 (aged 54) |
Nationality | French |
Known for | Hysteria patient of Jean-Martin Charcot |
Marie "Blanche" Wittman (often spelled Wittmann; April 15, 1859 – 1913) was a French woman known as one of the
Charcot's techniques were controversial; commentators have disagreed as to whether Wittman suffered from a physical condition like epileptic seizures, suffered from mass hysteria resulting from conditions at La Salpêtrière, or was merely feigning symptoms. She is depicted in A Clinical Lesson at the Salpêtrière (1887) and was the subject of a 2004 Per Olov Enquist novel.
Biography
Early life
Wittman was born in Paris on April 15, 1859.
At age 12, she was apprenticed to a
Wittman stayed with her mother and worked in a laundry from age 14 to 15; during that time she had "relations" with a jeweler named Louis. Her mother died when Wittman was 15; she returned to work for the furrier. The two regularly had sex; after eight months she fled to a friend of her mother.[2]: 6 Eight days later she entered a hospital as a duty maid, where she began a relationship with a young man named Alphonse.[2]: 6–7 He would compress her right ovarian region when she had attacks. After a few months, they spent a week in the countryside; upon her return to Paris, she sought asylum in a convent on the Rue du Cherche-Midi .[2]: 7
Though her attacks happened largely at night, Wittman was dismissed from the convent after tearing a garment during a daytime attack. She would often see Louis during her attacks. She found work as a servant at La Salpêtrière, intending to be admitted into the hospital.[2]: 7 Wittman was admitted as a patient in an epilepsy ward on May 6, 1877, at the age of 18.[2]: 7 [3]: 123
Treatment by Charcot
Upon admission, Wittman was found to have partial numbness on her right side and loss of sensitivity in her left arm, as well as ovarian sensitivity before 'attacks'. She collected objects including artificial roses and religious items, and wore a
In 1878, Charcot began treating patients including Wittman with hypnosis.[4] She was also treated with ether, chloroform, and amyl nitrite with some success, though she soon showed tolerance with ether.[5]: 73 [3]: 124 Static electricity from a Ramsden machine was used in 1879 to restore feeling to the right side of her body.[5]: 73 She was also a subject for faradisation experiments where electricity was used to induce muscular movements, often for photography.[6]
Charcot gave weekly lectures and demonstrations with patients, including Wittman. They were frequently attended by dancers, actresses (including Sarah Bernhardt), and other performers wishing to see the wide range of emotions that Wittman displayed during her attacks.[4] Though popular, they were criticized for their circus-like showmanship and sexual innuendo; under hypnosis, Wittman was made to act out theatrics with comedic effect.[4][7] Charcot was also plagued with reports that some patients feigned symptoms for attention and fame.[7] These claims were made in 1890 by intern Alfred Binet; after Charcot's 1893 death, his assistant Joseph Babinski rejected Charcot's neurological explanation of hysteria.[4] Wittman reportedly never had any attacks after Charcot's death.[4] However, she claimed in a 1906 interview that her symptoms were real, and that it was not possible to fool Charcot with such acting.[3]: 127
In The Discovery of the Unconscious (1970), Henri Ellenberger claims that Wittman was also treated by Jules Janet at the Hôtel-Dieu, where an alternate personality emerged under hypnosis. Ellenberger claims that Janet kept Wittman in this "Blanche II" state for several months, and that "Blanche II" was conscious even while "Blanche I" was unconscious during Charcot's demonstrations.[8] However, this claim was not discussed in the 1906 interview.[7]
A 2017 study of Wittman's symptoms concluded that she likely suffered from
Later life
Wittman returned to La Salpêtrière on October 11, 1889, as an assistant to photographer Albert Londe, who had previously photographed Wittman and the other patients.[3]: 125 Londe was appointed head of the radiology department the next year. The health effects of radiation were not yet understood; both of Wittman's arms were eventually amputated due to radiation-induced cancer.[1]: 25 [3]: 125 Wittman died in 1913 at the age of 54.[5]: 69 [4][note 1]
Depictions
Wittman is depicted in André Brouillet's 1887 painting A Clinical Lesson at the Salpêtrière, where she is used in a demonstration during one of Charcot's weekly lectures. This depiction made her "a model of hysteria at that time".[3]: 123 The painting is usually interpreted as showing Wittman undergoing a hysteric fit while under hypnosis.[6][3]: 122 However, a 2020 paper argues that the apparatus visible next to Charcot is a du Bois-Reymond induction device, and that the painting thus depicts Wittman in hypnotic lethargy, with Charcot having electrically induced the "ecstatic" expression on her face.[6]
Per Olov Enquist's 2004 novel Boken om Blanche och Marie (The book about Blanche and Marie) takes the form of purported lost journals by Wittman. The novel takes considerable historical liberties: Wittman is portrayed in a sexual relationship with Charcot, and later becomes Marie Curie's assistant and confidante.[9] The novel was well received; its use of Curie's investigations of radiation as a metaphor for human experience was praised.[10][11] However, a 2007 letter published in The Lancet criticized the novel for the "slandering of an unfortunate patient and two icons of science", including the invention of the relationship between Charcot and Wittman.[9]
See also
Notes
References
- ^ a b Alvarado, Carlos S. (2009). "Nineteenth-century hysteria and hypnosis: A historical note on Blanche Wittmann" (PDF). Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 37 (1): 21–36.
- ^ Regnard, Paul-Marie-Léon; Bourneville, Désiré-Magloire (1880). Iconographie photographique de la Salpêtrière : service de M. Charcot. Vol. 3. Aux Bureaux du Progres Medical. pp. 4–39 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Giménez-Roldán, S. (2016). "Clinical history of Blanche Wittman and current knowledge of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures" (PDF). Neurosciences and History. 4 (4): 122–129.
- ^ ISBN 9781786491824.
- ^ PMID 25273490.
- ^ S2CID 219926175.
- ^ PMID 15867099.
- ISBN 9780465016730.
- ^ S2CID 54282800.
- S2CID 54387185.
- ^ De-Falbe, John. "Radium and the nature of love". The Spectator. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
External links
Media related to Marie Wittman at Wikimedia Commons