Benito Mussolini is an infamous Italian dictator, who ran the National Fascist part. He came into power in Italy after World War One. He seized power of the country in the early 1920’s. He dismantled all democratic institutions and became Italy’s dictator in 1925. He was one of the main leaders for Spain’s civil war and backed Adolf Hitler in World War Two.
Mussolini had adopted and behaved similar to Hitler and his policies. More than 7,500 Italian Jews died in the Holocaust.
So who assassinated the Italian dictator and why?
On 7th April 1926, an Irish woman, Violet Gibson stepped out of the crowd in Rome and fired a shot at the infamous dictator. The bullet grazed his nose but the Italian leader survived the assassination attempt.
Out of all the four people who tried to assassinate the leader, she came the closest to hurting him. She is considered one of the bravest individual acts against Fascism in Europe in the 20th Century. She shot the dictator three years into his rule.
She spent some time in an Italian prison and was then deported to England. She was kept in a mental asylum in Northampton till she died.
Violet Gibson came from a wealthy and rich Anglo-Irish family in Dublin. She was also a debutante in the court of Queen Victoria.
Now, Dublin has installed a plaque in the city and dedicated it to her and her bravery.
During his dictatorship, Mussolini was one of the most wanted men in the world, after Adolf Hitler. There were multiple efforts made by a lot of people who tried to kill him. Violet was the closest one out of them all.
Irish Television streamed a movie starring Olwen Fouere who portrayed Violet Gibson in The Irish Woman Who Shot Mussolini. It will broadcast later this year on Irish Television.
In 1945, Mussolini was executed after his capture by the Italian Partisans while attempting to flee the Allied advance.
