Assassination of Empress Elisabeth

September 10, 1898

In 1898, a full ten years after the death of her son Rudolf, the empress was visiting Geneva, Switzerland. It was said that Sisi never liked traveling with an entourage and preferred to keep as low a profile as possible. Also in town, the Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni had planned to assassinate Prince Philippe, Duke of Orléans. However, the claimant to the French throne had left Geneva and, failing to locate the Duke, Lucheni instead settled for the Empress of Austria. Too poor to afford a stiletto, Lucheni used a sharpened file to stab the Empress as she was walking from her hotel to board a ship with her lady-in-waiting. Shaken without any visible harm done, she proceeded down the promenade and entered the departing vessel. Once onboard, the Empress complained of a burning sensation in her chest. After examination, a blood spot was discovered on her blouse and shortly afterward she collapsed and died. 

Lucheni, who was hoping to become a martyr, was furious when he found out that the death penalty was abolished in Geneva. He was sentenced to life in prison, where he began to write his childhood memoir. He was found hanged in his cell on October 19, 1910.