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| Mona Vasquez | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1960 France |
| Occupation(s) | French author, anti-cultist |
| Website | mona |
Mona Vasquez (1960 – 2 September 2011) was a Scientologist who was active in Scientology's headquarters in Europe, in Copenhagen, in the 1980s. She went on a hunger strike in August 1989 at Scientology's offices in Paris when she wanted to quit the program, and have her money returned; she received almost €60,000.
Mona is a painter, and established artist and poet. She has written an autobiography in which she recounts her experiences with Scientology, "Et Satan créa la Secte, Mémoires d’une rescapée".
Experiences with Scientology
Vasquez says she was initially introduced to Scientology by reading a friend's books. There, she says, she became part of an organisation under "tight control... from the mother church". She says she attempted to leave three times in this period, always coming back. After being convicted of making illegal loans, which she argued had been encouraged by Scientology, she was set free from jail on the condition that she not attempt to contact members of the Scientology organisation. She finally rejected Scientology. With money tight, she sought the return of money she had paid to Scientology for books and training courses. After a ten-day hunger strike in Paris in August 1989 covered by Antenne 2, the Scientology organization returned around ₣100,000 of her money to her.
Since then, she has testified before the Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France, and continued to paint and write.
She died on 2 September 2011.
Publications
- Satan Created the Cult: Memoirs of an escapee, La Secte: Et Satan créa la secte: Mémoires d'une rescapée, Mona Vasquez, March 2006
- La secte : Comment je m'en suis sortie, Mona Teulière (foreword by Jean Blum), (ISBN 978-2846590501)
See also
References
- Woljung, Eric (7 October 2004). "Le monde de Mona Vasquez". La Depeche. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
- "L'artiste peintre Mona Vasquez inaugure la nouvelle galerie 113". L'Independant. 13 May 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
- Lamote, Thierry (2010). "Par-delà la manipulation mentale : la violence insidieuse de l'église de scientologie". Topique. 2 (111): 177–195. doi:10.3917/top.111.0177. S2CID 146540748. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
- ^ Echo Magazine Archived 2006-06-18 at the Wayback Machine, interview with Mona Vasquez, October 2004, "Scientology, a true control".
"The first time where I was challenged by the sect, it was by a friend. I was at the end of my second year in Art school in Toulouse. I read all kinds of books and the first contact was done thus, in 1982. I saw nothing suspicious and the brainwashing started." - ^ Dahlburg, John-Thor (29 February 2000). "Report Urges Dissolution of Scientology Church in France". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
- "prison sans barreaux, scientologie, sortir d'une secte". Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2008.
- Mona, Vasquez (4 June 2004). "La prison sans barreaux". La Croix. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
- "Décès de Mona Vasquez" (in French). UNADFI. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2011.