DCC unveil plaque for Irish woman who shot Mussolini

Dublin woman Violet Gibson, who attempted to assassinate fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, has been commemorated with a plaque at her childhood home.

The Dublin City Council Commemorative Plaque was unveiled today by Lord Mayor Caroline Conroy at 12 Merrion Square in Dublin 2.

Violet is known for her attempted assassination of Benito Mussolini on 7th April 1926, three years into the fascist’s rule of Italy. She drew a pistol and shot Mussolini at point blank range in front of a crowd in the Piazza del Campidiglio Rome. Mussolini’s head turned as she shot and the bullet grazed his nose. She tried to shoot again, but the gun jammed.

Following the shooting Violet was placed in an asylum in England where she was allowed little or no contact with the outside world. She died in the asylum in 1956, aged 79.

Speaking at the unveiling, Lord Mayor Caroline Conroy said:

“In recent years the City Council has been working to put a focus on the women of history, with Commemorative Plaques being erected in memory of women like Kathleen Lynn and Madeleine Ffrench-Mullen, Anna Parnell, Margaret Keogh, Jane Wilde, and Hannah Sheehy-Skeffington.”

“I am pleased to be unveiling another plaque to a woman, a Dubliner who suffered from misogyny and from the stigma surrounding mental illness, due to which her real motivations were deliberately obscured.”

Siobhán Lynam, creator of the 2014 RTÉ radio documentary, The Irishwoman Who Shot Mussolini said:

“I’m honoured to be here for the unveiling of this plaque to commemorate Violet Gibson who was, for nearly a century, a mere passing footnote in the history of Italian fascism.”

“Violet was a highly intelligent, artistically gifted, well-travelled and bold-thinking woman. The rise and violence of fascism in Italy horrified her. Of all the would-be assassins of Mussolini, she came closest to changing the course of history.

Header image via networkirelandtelevision.com

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