Violet Gibson

The Honourable
Violet Gibson
Violet Gibson
Born
Violet Albina Gibson

31 August 1876
Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland
Died2 May 1956(1956-05-02) (aged 79)
Northampton, England
Resting placeKingsthorpe, England
FatherThe 1st Baron Ashbourne

Violet Albina Gibson (31 August 1876 – 2 May 1956) was an Irish-born British woman who attempted to assassinate Benito Mussolini in 1926. She was released without charge but spent the rest of her life in a psychiatric hospital in England.

She was the daughter of Lord Ashbourne, Lord Chancellor of Ireland.

Early life

Violet Gibson was born in Dublin, Ireland, on 31 August 1876.[1] Her father was an Irish lawyer and politician, Edward Gibson, who was created Baron Ashbourne in 1885.[2] Her mother, Frances, was a Christian Scientist.[3] Violet experimented with Theosophy before becoming a Roman Catholic in 1902.[4] She was presented as a debutante at court during the reign of Queen Victoria.[5]

Gibson suffered severe ill health throughout her life. She had a nervous breakdown in 1922; she was declared insane and committed to a mental institution for two years.[6] She attempted suicide in Rome in early 1925.[4]

Shooting of Mussolini

Gibson pictured after her arrest in 1926
Mussolini with bandaged nose following his shooting by Gibson

On 7 April 1926, Gibson shot Mussolini, the Prime Minister of Italy and leader of the National Fascist Party, as he walked among the crowd in the Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome after leaving an assembly of the International Congress of Surgeons, to whom he had delivered a speech on the wonders of modern medicine.[4][7] Gibson had armed herself with a rock to break Mussolini's car window if necessary, and a Modèle 1892 revolver disguised in a black shawl.[8] She fired once, but Mussolini moved his head at that moment and the shot hit his nose; she tried again, but the gun misfired.[4] Mussolini's son, in his memoir, gives an alternative account, recounting that Gibson fired twice, once missing and once grazing Mussolini's nose.[9] Gibson was almost lynched on the spot by an angry mob, but police intervened and took her away for questioning. Mussolini was wounded only slightly, dismissing his injury as "a mere trifle", and after his nose was bandaged he continued his parade on the Capitoline Hill.[4]

It has been thought that Gibson was insane at the time of the attack and the idea of assassinating Mussolini was hers and that she worked alone. She told interrogators that she shot Mussolini "to glorify God" who had kindly sent an angel to keep her arm steady.[6] As she did not hold Irish citizenship due to her Unionist views,[citation needed] she was deported to Britain after being released without charge at the request of Mussolini, an act for which he received the thanks of the British government.[10][9] The assassination attempt triggered a wave of popular support for Mussolini, resulting in the passage of pro-Fascist legislation which helped consolidate his control of Italy.[6] She spent the rest of her life in a psychiatric hospital, St Andrew's Hospital in Northampton, despite repeated pleas for her release.[11][12] She died on 2 May 1956 and was buried in Kingsthorpe Cemetery, Northampton.[1][13]

Legacy

Her gravestone in Kingsthorpe Cemetery

The Irishwoman Who Shot Mussolini, a 2014 radio documentary, was made by Siobhán Lynam for RTÉ Radio 1.[14] A film drama-documentary, Violet Gibson, The Irish Woman Who Shot Mussolini (2020) starring Olwen Fouéré, was commissioned by TG4 and produced by Barrie Dowdall and Siobhán Lynam.[15] Gibson's story is the subject of [Noggin Theatre Company]'s play Violet Gibson: The Woman Who Shot Mussolini. Written and performed by Irish playwright and actor Alice Barry. A woman often overlooked by history, Violet’s daring act shook the world and left an indelible mark. This production offers a rare opportunity to delve into the psyche of a suppressed Victorian woman who defied societal norms and challenged the political establishment of her time. [16]

Lisa O'Neill's song "Violet Gibson" celebrates her. It is featured on O'Neill's album Heard a Long Gone Song.[17] Evelyn Conlon's short story "Dear You" provides an epistolary account of events from Gibson's point of view. The story first appeared in both Italian and English in Tratti Review (Numero Novantatre, Italy, May 2013), and subsequently in Accenti: The Magazine with an Italian Accent (Canada).[18] It also appears in Conlon's Moving About the Place Collection (Blackstaff, 2021). In March 2021 Dublin City Council approved the placement of a plaque on her childhood home in Merrion Square to commemorate Gibson as "a committed anti-fascist".[5][12] This was unveiled in October 2022.[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Evers, Liz. "Gibson, Violet Albina – Dictionary of Irish Biography – Cambridge University Press". dib cambridge org. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  2. ^ "New Peers 06 July 1885". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 6 July 1885.
  3. ^ "National Archives: Census of Ireland 1911". www.census.nationalarchives.ie. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e Foulkes, Debbie (17 May 2010). "Violet Gibson (1876–1956) Shot Mussolini". Forgotten Newsmakers. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  5. ^ a b Michael Sheils McNamee (21 February 2021). "Violet Gibson – The Irish woman who shot Benito Mussolini". BBC News. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  6. ^ a b c "Profile: Violet Gibson, the Irish woman who shot Mussolini". Belfast Telegraph.
  7. ^ "Mussolini Trionfante", Time Magazine, 19 April 1926.
  8. ^ "Violet Gibson i nieudany zamach na "Duce"". 8 April 2016.
  9. ^ a b Mussolini, Romano. (2006). My father, il Duce : a memoir by Mussolini's son (1st ed.). [San Diego]: Kales Press. ISBN 0-9670076-8-2. OCLC 70407898.
  10. ^ Bosworth, R.J.B., Mussolini, 2002, London, Arnold, pp 218–219, ISBN 978-0-34-080988-4
  11. ^ Mussolini's nose, bbc.co.uk; accessed 8 July 2014.
  12. ^ a b "Councillors approve plaque for Dublin woman who shot Mussolini". RTÉ. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  13. ^ McNally, Frank. "Her father's daughter – An Irishman's Diary about the tragic life of Lucia Joyce". The Irish Times. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  14. ^ "The Irishwoman Who Shot Mussolini". RTÉ Radio. Doc on One. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  15. ^ "The Irish woman who shot Mussolini – inside the new film". RTE. 16 October 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  16. ^ Sheridan, Colette (9 August 2016). "A real shot at changing modern history in the play 'Violet Gibson: The Woman Who Shot Mussolini'". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  17. ^ Walshe, John (19 October 2018). "Album Review: Lisa O'Neill, Heard A Long Gone Song". Hotpress. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  18. ^ Conlon, Evelyn (21 August 2019). "Dear You". Accenti. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  19. ^ "Plaque unveiled for Irish woman who shot Mussolini". BBC News. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022.

Further reading

  • Saunders, Frances Stonor. The Woman Who Shot Mussolini. London: Faber & Faber; New York: Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt, 2010.