# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/viola-desmond
# Generated: 2026-08-13T14:09:29.593Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/viola-desmond"
name: "Viola Desmond"
slug: "viola-desmond"
description: "Viola Irene Desmond was a Canadian civil and women's rights activist and businesswoman of Black Nova Scotian descent. In 1946, she challenged racial segregation at a cinema in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, by refusing to leave a whites-only area of the Roseland Theatre. For this, she was convicted of a minor tax violation for the one-cent tax difference between the seat that she had paid for and the seat that she used, which was more expensive. Desmond's case is one of the most publicized incidents of racial discrimination in Canadian history and helped start the modern civil rights movement in Canada."
tagline: "Canadian activist (1914-1965)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Viola_Desmond.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "female"
country:
  name: "Canada"
  isoCode: "CA"
category:
  name: "Activists"
  slug: "activists"
profileType:
  name: "Activist"
  slug: "activist"
birthDate: "1914-07-05"
deathDate: "1965-02-07"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           53.09
  momentum:             0.4331262939958592
  historical:           15.92019466666667
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: 95
sources:
  - url: "https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B6%AD%E5%A5%A7%E6%8B%89%C2%B7%E6%88%B4%E6%96%AF%E8%92%99%E5%BE%B7"
    title: "維奧拉·戴斯蒙德"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%81%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A7_%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%B2%D9%85%D9%88%D9%86%D8%AF"
    title: "فيولا ديزموند"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_Desmond"
    title: "Viola Desmond"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_Desmond"
    title: "Viola Desmond"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_Desmond"
    title: "Viola Desmond"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_Desmond"
    title: "Viola Desmond"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%DB%8C%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A7_%D8%AF%D8%B2%D9%85%D9%88%D9%86%D8%AF"
    title: "ویولا دزموند"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_Desmond"
    title: "Viola Desmond"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_Desmond"
    title: "Viola Desmond"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%B4%E3%82%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%82%AA%E3%83%A9%E3%83%BB%E3%83%87%E3%82%BA%E3%83%A2%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89"
    title: "ヴァイオラ・デズモンド"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_Desmond"
    title: "Viola Desmond"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_Desmond"
    title: "Viola Desmond"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B4%2C_%D0%92%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B0"
    title: "Десмонд, Виола"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_Desmond"
    title: "Viola Desmond"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_Desmond"
    title: "Viola Desmond"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B0%B5%E0%B0%AF%E0%B1%8B%E0%B0%B2%E0%B0%BE_%E0%B0%A1%E0%B1%86%E0%B0%B8%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%AE%E0%B0%82%E0%B0%A1%E0%B1%8D"
    title: "వయోలా డెస్మండ్"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D1%96%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B0_%D0%94%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B4"
    title: "Віола Дезмонд"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_Desmond"
    title: "Viola Desmond"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7933011"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump