Witasek was born in Vienna on the 17th of May 1870. Little is known of his background, though the name `Witasek' suggests Croatian origins. He studied in Graz, obtaining his . in 1895 and his habilitation - on the nature of optical illusions - in 1899. In the following years, during which he worked selflessly as an unpaid assistant in Meinong's laboratory of experimental psychology, he was employed as a librarian in the University of Graz.