Monica Proietti (; February 25, 1940 – September 19, 1967) was a Canadian

bank robber Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank Branch (banking), branch or Bank teller, tell ...

and folk hero from

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, better known as "Machine Gun Molly" (in French: ''Monica la Mitraille''). Proietti came from a poor Montreal family, and many of her relatives were involved in crime; her grandmother served time in jail for receiving stolen goods, and reportedly ran a school for crime for the neighbourhood children in the

Red-Light District A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are particu ...

. In 1956, at the age of 17, Proietti married Anthony Smith, a Scottish gangster (he was 33). The couple had two children. Smith was deported from Canada in 1962. She then became romantically involved with Viateur Tessier, but he was jailed in 1966 for armed robbery. When she was 19 four of her seven siblings perished in a fire in downtown Montreal. The area had been purchased by the City of Montreal for future demolition for the Jeanne Mance public housing projects. The members of her crew included Gérald Lelièvre and his brother Robert, who made headlines in 1984 when he and three others were killed when a bomb was detonated in a downtown Montreal apartment building. The victims had been suspected in the murder of

West End Gang The West End Gang (french: Gang de l'ouest) is a Canadian organized crime group in Montreal, Quebec. An Irish mob group originating from the Irish-Canadian ethnic enclave of Pointe-Saint-Charles in the 1950s, the majority of the gang's earni ...

kingpin

Frank "Dunie" Ryan Frank Peter "Dunie" Ryan Jr. (10 June 1942 – 13 November 1984) was a Canadian gangster and the leader of the West End Gang, a Montreal-based criminal organization. Criminal career Hoodlum Ryan was born of Irish descent in a poor neighborhood ...

. Proietti and her accomplices held up more than 20 banks, stealing over an estimated $100,000. On September 19, 1967 she died after crashing into a bus and being shot twice by an undercover police officer following a high-speed chase through the north-end of the city. Reportedly, this was to have been her last bank robbery, intended to fund a new life in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Mort Künstler Mort Künstler (born August 28, 1927) is an American artist known for his illustrative paintings of historical events, especially of the American Civil War. He was a child prodigy, who, with encouragement from his parents, became a skilled artis ...

painted the artwork ''Machine Gun Molly'' for '' Stag magazine's'' January 1965 issue. A 2004 Quebec film ''

Machine Gun Molly Monica Proietti (; February 25, 1940 – September 19, 1967) was a Canadian bank robber and folk hero from Montreal, better known as "Machine Gun Molly" (in French: ''Monica la Mitraille''). Proietti came from a poor Montreal family, and man ...

(Monica la mitraille)'' was loosely based on her life. The film was adapted from the book ''Souvenirs de Monica'' by ..

Bibliography

* Georges-Hébert Germain. ''Souvenirs de Monica,'' 1997. * Alan Hustak. "Machine Gun Molly: twenty-five years before Thelma and Louise, Montreal had its own real-life female gangster." ''Montreal Gazette,'' September 1, 1991. * Betty Nygaard King. "Hell Hath No Fury: Famous Women in Crime." Borealis Press, Ottawa, 2001

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Proietti, Monica 1940 births 1967 deaths 1967 crimes in Canada People from Montreal Proiettei, Monica Canadian people of Italian descent Deaths by firearm in Quebec Proiettei, Monica Canadian gangsters of Italian descent