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Unity Valkyrie Mitford (8 August 1914 – 28 May 1948), styled The Hon. Unity Mitford, was an aristocratic English socialite who was a devotee of Adolf Hitler. Both in Britain and Germany, she was a prominent supporter of Nazism and fascism, and formed part of Hitler's inner circle of friends.〔 Following the declaration of World War II, Mitford attempted suicide in Munich, and was officially allowed safe passage back to England in her invalid condition, but never recovered. Unity was a member of the Mitford family, tracing its origins in Northumberland back to the 11th century Norman settlement of England.〔 Her sister Diana was married to Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists.〔 ==Childhood== Unity Mitford was the fifth of seven children born in London, England to David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, and his wife, Sydney (1880–1963), daughter of Thomas Gibson Bowles, MP. She was conceived in the town of Swastika, Ontario, in Canada, where her family had gold mines.〔〔Lovell, Mary. (2003) ''The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family''. Norton. p. 33; ISBN 0-393-32414-1〕 Her siblings included: Nancy (28 November 1904 – 30 June 1973), Pamela (25 November 1907 – 12 April 1994), Thomas (2 January 1909 – 30 March 1945), Diana (17 June 1910 – 11 August 2003), Jessica (11 September 1917 – 22 July 1996), and Deborah (31 March 1920 – 24 September 2014), later the Duchess of Devonshire. The Mitford children lived at Asthall Manor in Asthall, Oxfordshire, and were educated at St Margaret's School, Bushey. Mitford's biographer, Jan Dalley, believes that, "Unity found life in her big family very difficult because she came after these cleverer, prettier, more accomplished sisters."〔. Accessed 26 August 2010〕 While another biographer, David Pryce-Jones, added: "If you come from a ruck of children in a large family, you've got to do something to assert your individuality, and I think through the experience of trying to force her way forward among the sisters and in the family, she decided that she was going to form a personality against everything".〔 It has been speculated that Unity turned to extreme national-socialistic politics as a way to distinguish herself within the family. As Dalley states: "I think the desire to shock was very important, it was the way that she made herself special. When she discovered Nazism and discovered that it was a fantastic opportunity to shock everybody in England she’d discovered the best tease of all."〔〔 Her younger sister, Jessica, with whom she shared a bedroom, was a dedicated communist.〔 The two drew a chalk line down the middle to divide the room. Jessica's side was decorated with hammer and sickles and pictures of Vladimir Lenin, while Unity's was decorated with swastikas and pictures of Adolf Hitler. Dalley commented "they were kids virtually, you don't know how much it was just a game, a game that became deadly serious in later life."〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Unity Mitford」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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