Monique De Wael

Monique De Wael, known by her pen name Misha Defonseca, is a Belgian author whose memoir 'A Mémoire of the Holocaust Years' claimed to recount her harrowing experiences as a Jewish child during World War II. Her story, which included fabricated elements of being adopted by wolves, was revealed to be a complete invention in 2008, leading to legal actions that required her to repay millions of dollars earned from the book's publication. The scandal highlighted issues of authenticity in memoir writing and the exploitation of historical tragedies.