Monique Wittig (1935–2003)

Monique Wittig was born in Dannemarie in Alsace, France. In 1950, she moved to Paris to study at the Sorbonne. She earned her Ph.D. from the prestigious École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS, School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences). In 1964, she published her first novel, L'Opoponax, which won her immediate attention in France and international recognition after it was translated into other languages. Her second novel, Les Guérillères, probably her most influential work, today is considered a founding event of French feminism. She became a leader of the French women's liberation movement. In 1971, she was a founding member of the Gouines rouges (Red Dykes), the first openly lesbian group in Paris. She was also involved in the Féministes Révolutionnaires (Revolutionary Feminists). She published various other works, including Le Corps lesbien (The Lesbian Body, 1973) and a feminist dictionary, Brouillon pour un dictionnaire des amantes (Lesbian Peoples: Material for a Dictionary, 1976), co-authored with her partner, Sande Zeig.

In 1976, Wittig and Zeig moved to the USA, where Wittig focused on works that explored the inter-connectedness of lesbianism, feminism, and literary form. She was a visiting professor in various universities across the country, including the University of California, Berkeley, Vassar College, and the University of Arizona. A collection of writings, The Straight Mind and Other Essays (1992), was published in English.