24 Facts About Marie Wittman

Marie Wittman was institutionalized in La Salpetriere in 1877, and was treated by Charcot until his death in 1893.

Marie Wittman later became a radiology assistant at the hospital, which resulted in amputations of her arms due to radiation poisoning.

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 Salpetriere, or was merely feigning symptoms.

Marie Wittman is depicted in A Clinical Lesson at the Salpetriere and was the subject of a 2004 Per Olov Enquist novel.

Marie Wittman's father was a Swiss carpenter; prone to anger, he went insane and was placed in an institution.

Marie Wittman scarcely attended school because of difficulty learning and could barely read and write.

Marie Wittman was prone to fits of anger, to which her mother responded by throwing water on her.

Marie Wittman's attacks worsened, with Wittman losing consciousness and urinating on herself.

Marie Wittman's attacks became more frequent, and she began to have tremors, later saying that "Everything I held in my hands escaped me".

Marie 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.

Marie Wittman's mother died when Wittman was 15; she returned to work for the furrier.

Marie Wittman would compress her right ovarian region when she had attacks.

Marie Wittman found work as a servant at La Salpetriere, intending to be admitted into the hospital.

Marie Wittman was admitted as a patient in an epilepsy ward on May 6,1877, at the age of 18.

Marie Wittman collected objects including artificial roses and religious items, and wore a scapular.

Marie Wittman was of average intelligence; her memory was good, though she believed it had declined over the previous year due to her frequent use of ether.

Marie Wittman was treated by Jean-Martin Charcot, who believed she had hysteria.

Marie Wittman was treated with ether, chloroform, and amyl nitrite with some success, though she soon showed tolerance with ether.

Marie Wittman was a subject for faradisation experiments where electricity was used to induce muscular movements, often for photography.

Marie Wittman returned to La Salpetriere on October 11,1889, as an assistant to photographer Albert Londe, who had previously photographed Marie Wittman and the other patients.

The health effects of radiation were not yet understood; both of Marie Wittman's arms were eventually amputated due to radiation-induced cancer.

Marie Wittman is depicted in Andre Brouillet's 1887 painting A Clinical Lesson at the Salpetriere, where she is used in a demonstration during one of Charcot's weekly lectures.

The painting is usually interpreted as showing Marie Wittman undergoing a hysteric fit while under hypnosis.

Per Olov Enquist's 2004 novel Boken om Blanche och Marie takes the form of purported lost journals by Wittman.