My great-aunt shot Mussolini in the face

My great-aunt shot Mussolini in the face21 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleJennifer Jones,BBC WalesandTrystan ab Ifan,BBC WalesItalian Ministry of the InteriorViolet Gibson tried and failed to kill Benito MussoliniViolet Gibson came very close to changing the course of history 100 years ago, when she emerged from a crowd in Rome and shot fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.The bullet grazed the Italian leader's nose and she tried to fire again but the gun jammed.She was saved from the crowd by police "because they [Mussolini's supporters] probably would have killed her", said her great-niece Philippa Gibson.Violet was jailed in Italy before being deported to England where she was incarcerated at a psychiatric institution in Northampton until her death in 1956.Of four documented assassination attempts on Il Duce, Violet came the closest.Philippa, from Llangrannog, in Ceredigion, Wales, said her great-aunt was from a very wealthy and political family.Her father was Anglo-Irish aristocrat Baron Ashbourne, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, the country's highest legal office at the time.Violet had a "typical upbringing for someone of that age and status" but rebelled against her family, converting to Catholicism and becoming a socialist, said Philippa.Getty ImagesMussolini pictured with a bandage on his nose after the shootingShe said: "The family weren't pleased at all but they had a softer approach towards Violet partly because... she had mental health problems but she was also an incredibly intelligent woman."Violet ended up going to Italy where she learnt the language and "did good works", said her great-niece, adding: "It was that kind of age where rich people gave alms to the poor."However, Violet had periods of severe mental ill health. She suffered a breakdown following the sudden death of her fiance, was imprisoned for a knife attack and attempted to take her own life, said Philippa.On V...