French author and feminist theorist who wrote about overcoming socially enforced gender roles and who coined the phrase “heterosexual contract”. She published her first novel, L’Opoponax, in 1964. Her second novel, Les Guérillères (1969), was a landmark in lesbian feminism.
Wittig was a central figure in lesbian and feminist movements in France. In 1971, she was a founding member of the ‘Gouines rouges’ (“Red dykes”), the first lesbian group in Paris. She was also involved in the Féministes Révolutionnaires (“Revolutionary feminists”), a radical feminist group. She published various other works, some of which include the 1973 Le Corps lesbien (or The Lesbian Body) and the 1976 Brouillon pour un dictionnaire des amantes (or Lesbian Peoples: Materical For A Dictionary), which her partner, Sande Zeig, coauthored.
In 1976, Wittig and Zeig moved to the United States where Wittig focused on producing work of gender theory. Her works, ranging from the philosophical essay The Straight Mind to parables such as Les Tchiches et les Tchouches, explored the interconnectedness and intersection of lesbianism, feminism, and literary form.
She taught a course in ‘Materialist Thought’ through Women’s Studies programs, wherein her students were immersed in the process of correcting the American translation of The Lesbian Body. She died of a heart attack on 3 January 2003, aged 67, in Tucson, Arizona.
Link to Wikipedia biography