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Ireland | VIEW SOURCE |
Violet Gibson was born in Dublin on 31/8/1876 to Frances Colles and Edward Gibson, who was a lawyer and Politian. Edward was made 1st Baron Ashbourne and served as Lord High Chancellor of Ireland from 1885 – 1905. The family lived between Dublin and London.
Violet was often ill as a child, and grew into a frail woman. She converted to Catholicism at the age of 26. In 1913 Violet moved to Paris and suffered more bad health, she went back to England and would suffer lifelong abdominal pain after a botched appendicitis surgery. She was declared insane having suffered a nervous breakdown in 1922 and she was committed to an asylum. When she was released she moved to Rome and lived in a convent. She believed God wanted her to kill someone in sacrifice and on April 7 1926 she shot Mussolini, Italy’s Fascist leader, as he walked through a crowd in Rome. He moved his head and the shot hit him in the nose. Violet tried to shoot again but the gun misfired and Mussolini had been only slightly wounded.
Violet was deported to Britain and lived the rest of her life in a mental asylum. She died in 1956 at the age of 79.
Sources: Independent.ie, Wikipedia
| Additional Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 31st Aug 1876 | |
| Date of Death | 1st Jan 1956 | |
| Father (First Name/s and Surname) | Edward Gibson, was a descendant of William Gibson and Mary Ann Bagnall. Mary Ann was the daughter of Edward Bagnall of Hawkinstown, Meath and Mary Grierson, and a grandson of Richard John Bagnall. | |
| Mother (First Name/s and Maiden) | Frances Colles | |