Violet Gibson

Infobox Person
name = Violet Gibson


birth_date = 1876
death_date = Death date|1956|5|2

Violet Albina Gibson (1876 - May 2, 1956) the daughter of Edward Gibson, 1st Baron Ashbourne, is best known for shooting Benito Mussolini.

On 7 April 1926 Violet Gibson shot Mussolini, Italy's Fascist leader, while he sat in a car after leaving an assembly of physicians, to whom he had delivered a speech on the wonders of modern medicine [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,729144-1,00.html "Mussolini Trionfante"] TIME Magazine 19 April, 1926] . Gibson shot at Mussolini from close range and the bullet hit Mussolini's nose. Gibson was almost lynched on the spot by an angry mob, but police intervened and took her off for questioning. Mussolini was wounded only slightly and after his nose was bandaged he continued his parade.

At the time of the assassination attempt Violet Gibson was 50 years old and did not explain her reason for trying to assassinate Mussolini. It has been theorised that Gibson was insane at the time of the attack and the idea of assassinating Mussolini was given to her by an unofficial third party (i.e. the Italian duke Giovanni Antonio Colonna di Cesarò, a former minister in the first government of Mussolini itself). Gibson was later deported Fact|date=February 2008 to Britain after being released without charge at the request of Mussolini. She spent the last 30 years of her life in an upscale mental asylum near Northampton (St Andrews Hospital) Nottingham, England. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hometruths/20060410_mussolini.shtml BBC - Radio 4 - Mussolini's nose ] ]

Notes and References

External links

* [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0885-4173(192808)19%3A2%3C211%3AACSALH%3E2.0.CO%3B2-4 JSTOR A Character Study and Life History of Violet Gibson Who Attempted the Life of Benito Mussolini, on the 7th of April, 1926]