3. An Italian Anarchist Stabbed Her To Death
In 1898, Empress Elisabeth made a trip to Geneva, Switzerland, although there were reports that someone might try to assassinate her. Indeed, the Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni was in Geneva, having arrived there determined to kill a monarch. His original intent was to murder the Duke of Orleans, who was a pretender to the extant French throne and also in Geneva. However, the duke departed to Valais before Lucheni could carry out his assassination attempt. Elisabeth had traveled to Geneva under a pseudonym, but someone at the Hotel Beau-Rivage informed someone that their guest was none other than Sisi.
Lucheni decided that he would kill her instead of the duke. In his words, “I am an anarchist by conviction…I came to Geneva to kill a sovereign, with object of giving an example to those who suffer and those who do nothing to improve their social position; it did not matter to me who the sovereign was whom I should kill…It was not a woman I struck, but an Empress; it was a crown that I had in view.” He stabbed her as she was leaving the hotel on September 10, 1898. She collapsed and was taken to a ship, the people with her not realizing the extent of her injuries. Only after she lost consciousness did the medical staff recognize that she had been stabbed.