Ursula Appolloni

Ursula Appolloni
Ursula Appolloni in front of her office, Confederation Building, Parliament Hill, Ottawa, in 1974
Member of the Canadian Parliament for York South—Weston
In office 1979–1984
Preceded by	Riding established
Succeeded by	John Nunziata
Member of the Canadian Parliament for York South
In office 1974–1979
Preceded by	David Lewis
Succeeded by	Riding abolished
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(s)	Lucio Appolloni
Children	4
Profession	Writer
Military service
Allegiance	British
Service/branch	Women's Royal Air Force
Years of service	1948-1950
Rank	Corporal

Ursula Appolloni (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.

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.

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.