Ursula Appolloni facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ursula Appolloni
Ursula Appolloni in front of her office, Confederation Building, Parliament Hill, Ottawa, in 1974
Member of Parliament for York South—Weston
In office 22 May 1979 – 3 September 1984
Preceded by	Riding established
Succeeded by	John Nunziata
Member of Parliament for York South
In office 8 July 1974 – 21 May 1979
Preceded by	David Lewis
Succeeded by	Riding dissolved
Personal details
Born	Ursula Carroll (1929-12-07)7 December 1929 Cavan, Ireland
Died	28 December 1994(1994-12-28) (aged 65) Ottawa, Ontario
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Lucio Appolloni ​ (m. 1958)​
Children	4
Profession	Writer
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	Women's Royal Air Force
Years of service	1948-1950
Rank	Corporal

Ursula Appolloni (née Carroll; 7 December 1929 – 28 December 1994) was a Canadian politician. She served in the House of Commons as a Liberal Member of Parliament for the Toronto ridings of York South and York South—Weston from 1974 to 1984.

Background

Appolloni was born in Cavan, Ireland as Ursula Carroll, and she served in Britain's Women's Royal Air Force from 1948 to 1950. In 1954 she met her future husband, Lucio, who at the time was working at the Italian consulate in Liverpool, England. They married in 1958 in Italy where they resided until 1965. She became fluent in Italian. They had four children together, Luisa, Suzanne, Andrew, and Simon. Eventually they emigrated to Canada and settled in Toronto. Prior to entering politics, she was a freelance writer with numerous articles published in the Toronto Telegram, Toronto Star and Catholic Register and she worked as chairman of the Board of Referees, Employment and Immigration Canada. Appolloni also directed a children's mime opera. After her election in 1974 they moved to Ottawa where they remained until her death.

Politics

Appolloni was first involved in politics when she served as office manager for the campaign of Charles Caccia in the 1968 election. In 1974 she ran as the Liberal Party candidate in the riding of York South against New Democratic Party leader David Lewis in the federal election. Appolloni upset Lewis by 1,863 votes ending Lewis' political career. At his defeat, Lewis joked "One of the basic democratic rights is the right for the people to be wrong." Her husband, Lucio, had been the Liberal candidate in York South in the 1972 election. He lost to Lewis by almost 5,000 votes.

She remained as MP for York South and its successor riding, York South—Weston, until she retired in 1984. She was a backbencher for most of her parliamentary career, except for serving as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence from 1980 to 1982. Issues that she supported during her tenure included the creation of pensions for housewives and putting unemployed youth in the military reserve. .....

Later life

After leaving politics she worked as an editor for Health and Welfare Canada. A long-time smoker, she was diagnosed with lung cancer in June 1994 and died seven months later. Fellow Liberal Charles Caccia described her as "a person with a very big social conscience, with a particular interest in pensioners, women's rights and social justice."

Electoral record

York South

York South-Weston