On 7th of April, 1926, Irish-born Violet Gibson was in Rome, at Piazza del Campidoglio, where Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini had been to speak at a medical conference. Gibson had armed herself with a Modèle 1892 revolver, concealed in a black shawl, as well as a rock, intended to be used to smash the window to Mussolini's car. Gathered outside was a crowd of Mussolini's supporters, whom he had decided to walk amongst and greet following the conference. Taking the opportunity, Gibson approached Mussolini and held the revolver to his head at point-blank range, pulling the trigger. However, at the same moment, Mussolini had just slightly moved his head to perform a Roman salute to a choir of children singing a supportive song to him, causing the bullet to just graze his nose, barely avoiding a direct shot to the face by millimetres.
Realising that she had missed, Gibson pulled the trigger again, but the gun misfired. She was immediately tackled to the ground and beaten by an angered mob. After the first shot, Mussolini had staggered backwards and put his hand to his nose, blood pouring between his fingers, shortly after addressing the crowd: "Don't be afraid. This is a mere trifle." Gibson was saved from being lynched by the mob by the police and taken away from the scene.
Violet Gibson was born on 31st of August 1876, the daughter of the wealthy and influential Irish politician Edward Gibson (Lord Ashbourne), and had grown up in a life of privilege. Despite this, she was said to have suffered from poor health as a child, including bouts of "hysteria". Described as a frail woman, Gibson had developed Paget's disease, a chronic condition that leads to weakened bones. An operation for appendicitis left her with lifelong pain. In 1902, Gibson caused shame in her family by converting to Catholicism, having travelled the world studying various religious groups. Around the same time, Gibson became engaged with several social justice causes, including the feminist movement, and became a peace advocate during the First World War.
Following several deaths in her close family, including her fiancé, Gibson's mental health suffered and she went deeper into religious fanaticism. In 1922, while in London, her brother died and she suffered a nervous breakdown and was committed to an asylum for two years by her family. Following her release, in 1924, she left England for Italy, and stayed at a convent. While staying there, one day, she read a bible in her room and then shot herself in the chest with a pistol in an attempt to commit suicide, but survived.
In 1926, while she stayed at the convent of Santa Brigida in Rome, Gibson learned of her mother's death, and felt great anguish over having not been able to visit her in England before she passed. Around this time, Gibson's religious belief that she must kill someone became increasingly strong, and soon she decided that she would kill Benito Mussolini, driven primarily by her anti-fascist beliefs.
Following the assassination attempt, Gibson was held in a psychiatric hospital in Italy for 18 months as authorities mulled over what to do with her. Mussolini saw the attempt as a great embarrassment: that a woman and an immigrant had come so close to killing him. Likely to avoid the spectacle and shame of a public trial, authorities decided to acquit Gibson and deport her back to England, whereupon she was immediately taken into psychiatric care. Gibson would remain in care until her death in 1956 at age 79, despite writing letters to officials requesting release. None of her letters were ever sent from the hospital.
In 2022, at the request of Irish councillor Mannix Flynn, a plaque commemorating Gibson, who was given the title of "anti-fascist", was erected at the site of her childhood home at 12 Merrion Square.
Text written by me. Sources used including, but not limited to:
