Anneliese Michel

Anna Elisabeth "Anneliese" Michel (21 September 1952 – 1 July 1976) was a German woman who underwent 67 Catholic exorcism rites during the year before her death. She died of malnutrition, for which her parents and the priest who performed the exorcism were convicted of negligent homicide. She was diagnosed with epileptic psychosis (temporal lobe epilepsy) and manic depression (bipolar disorder), and had a history of psychiatric treatment that proved ineffective.

When Michel was 16, she experienced a seizure and was diagnosed with psychosis caused by temporal lobe epilepsy. Shortly thereafter, she was diagnosed with depression and was treated by a psychiatric hospital. By the time that she was 20, she had become intolerant of various religious objects and began to hear voices. Her condition worsened despite medication, and she became suicidal, also displaying other symptoms, for which she took medication as well. After taking psychiatric medications for five years failed to improve her symptoms, Michel and her family became convinced she was possessed by a demon. As a result, her family appealed to the Catholic Church for an exorcism. While rejected at first, two priests got permission from the local bishop, Josef Stangl, to perform the exorcism in 1975. The priests began performing exorcisms and the family stopped consulting doctors. Michel stopped eating food and died of malnourishment and dehydration after 67 exorcism sessions. Michel's parents and the two Catholic priests were found guilty of negligent homicide and were sentenced to six months in jail (reduced to three years of probation), as well as a fine. The Catholic Church retracted the claim that she was possessed and has since described her as mentally ill.

Several religious horror films are based on her story, including the 2005 film The Exorcism of Emily Rose, the 2006 film Requiem, and the 2011 film Anneliese: The Exorcist Tapes.