Kennedy (family)

The Kennedy family (known as the Kennedy Clan or Kennedy Dynasty ) is an influential Irish-American family that made up many business people and politicians, the most famous member of which was United States President John F. Kennedy .

John F. Kennedy's wedding 1953 (far right John F. Kennedy, second from left Robert Kennedy, center Edward Kennedy)

The Kennedys come from Ireland (the name Kennedy is derived from the Gaelic word cinneidigh , which translates as helmeted head ). Patrick, a farmer on the run from the famine in Ireland 1845–1849 , met his future wife Bridget on the long crossing to America. They had four children. Her son Patrick Joseph Kennedy (1858–1929), the first politician of the family as an MP from Massachusetts, married a politician's daughter, Mary Augusta Hickey. From this marriage comes Joseph Patrick Kennedy , the founder of the actual Kennedy clan.

The family home has been in Hyannis Port , Massachusetts since 1927 .

genealogy

Joseph P. Kennedy (1888–1969), married to Rose Kennedy (1890–1995).
- Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr. (1915-1944)
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917–1963), 35th President of the United States ; married to Jacqueline Bouvier (1929–1994). Children:
  - Arabella Kennedy (stillborn 1956)
  - Caroline Kennedy (* 1957), married to Edwin Arthur Schlossberg . Children:
    - Rose Kennedy Schlossberg (* 1988)
    - Tatiana Celia Kennedy Schlossberg (* 1990)
    - John Schlossberg (* 1993)
  - John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. (1960–1999), married to Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy (1966–1999)
  - Patrick Bouvier Kennedy (1963–1963)
- Rosemary Kennedy (1918-2005)
- Kathleen Cavendish (1920–1948), married to William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington (1917–1944)
- Eunice Shriver (1921–2009), married to Robert Sargent Shriver Jr. (1915–2011). Children:
  - Robert Sargent Shriver III. (* 1954), film producer
    - Natasha Hunt Lee (* 1997)
    - Rosemary Scarlett Shriver (* 2009)
  - Maria Shriver (* 1955), married to Arnold Schwarzenegger (* 1947). Children:
    - Katherine Eunice Schwarzenegger (* 1989)
    - Christina Maria Aurelia Schwarzenegger (* 1991)
    - Patrick Schwarzenegger (* 1993)
    - Christopher Sargent Shriver Schwarzenegger (* 1997)
  - Timothy Shriver (* 1959), father of
    - Sophia Rose Shriver (* 1987)
    - Timothy Perry Shriver Jr. (* 1988)
    - Samuel Kennedy Potter Shriver (* 1992)
    - Kathleen Potter Shriver (* 1994)
    - Caroline Shriver (* 1997)
  - Mark Kennedy Shriver (* 1964), father of
    - Mary Elizabeth Shriver (* 1998)
    - Thomas Kennedy Shriver (* 1999)
    - Emma Rose Shriver (* 2005)
  - Anthony Shriver (* 1965), father of
    - Teddy (born September 4, 1988),
    - Eunice Julia Shriver (born January 4, 1994)
    - Francesca Maria Shriver (born December 13, 1994)
    - Carolina Fitzgerald Shriver (* 2001)
    - John Joseph Sargent Shriver (* 2009)
- Patricia Kennedy Lawford (1924–2006), married to Peter Lawford (1923–1984). Children:
  - Christopher Lawford (1955-2018), father of
    - David Christopher Kennedy Lawford (* 1987)
    - Savannah Rose Lawford (* 1990)
    - Matthew Valentine Lawford (* 1995)
  - Sydney Lawford (* 1956), mother of
    - James Peter McKelvy, Jr (born 1985)
    - Christopher Kennedy McKelvy (* 1987)
    - Patrick Ryon McKelvy (* 1989)
    - Anthony Lawford McKelvy (* 1992)
  - Victoria Lawford (* 1958), mother of
    - Alexandra Lawford Pender (* 1988)
    - Caroline Patricia Pender (* 1990)
    - Victoria Rose Pender (* 1993)
  - Robin Elizabeth Lawford (born 1961)
- Robert F. Kennedy (1925–1968), married to Ethel Skakel (* 1928). Children:
  - Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (* 1951), mother of
    - Meaghan Anne Kennedy Townsend (* 1977)
    - Maeve Fahey Kennedy Townsend (1979–2020), had an accident with her 8-year-old son Gideon in a boat accident
    - Rose Katherine Kennedy Townsend (* 1983)
    - Kerry Sophia Kennedy Townsend (* 1991)
  - Joseph Patrick Kennedy II (* 1952), father of
    - Matthew Rauch Kennedy (* 1980)
    - Joseph P. Kennedy III . (* 1980)
  - Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. (* 1954),
    - Robert Francis Kennedy III (* 1984), (1st marriage)
    - Kathleen Alexandra Kennedy (* 1988), (1st marriage)
    - Conor Richardson Kennedy (* 1994), (2nd marriage)
    - Kyra LeMoyne Kennedy (* 1995), (2nd marriage)
    - William Finbar Kennedy (* 1997), (2nd marriage)
    - Aidan Caohman Vieques (* 2001), (2nd marriage)
  - David A. Kennedy (1955–1984) died of a drug overdose
  - Mary Courtney-Kennedy (* 1956), mother of
    - Saoirse Roisin Kennedy Hill (1997–2019), died of a drug overdose
  - Michael LeMoyne Kennedy (1958–1997), died in a skiing accident, father of
    - Michael LeMoyne Kennedy Jr. (* 1983)
    - Kyle Francis Kennedy (* 1984)
    - Rory Gifford Kennedy (* 1987)
  - Mary Kerry Kennedy (* 1959), mother of
    - Cara Ethel Kennedy Cuomo (* 1995)
    - Mariah Matilda Kennedy Cuomo (* 1995)
    - Michaela Andrea Cuomo (* 1997)
  - Christopher George Kennedy (* 1963), father of
    - Katherine Berner Kennedy (* 1990)
    - Christopher George Kennedy Jr. (* 1992)
    - Sarah Louise Kennedy (* 1994)
    - Clare Rose Kennedy (* 1998)
  - Matthew Maxwell Taylor-Kennedy (* 1965), father of
    - Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy Jr. (* 1993)
    - Caroline Summer Rose Kennedy (* 1994)
    - Noah Isabella Rose Kennedy (* 1998)
  - Douglas Harriman-Kennedy (* 1967), father of
    - Riley Elizabeth Kennedy (* 1999)
    - Mary McCauley (* 2001)
    - Rowen Francis (* 2004)
    - George Skakel Kennedy (* 2007)
    - Anthony Boru Kennedy (* 2012)
  - Rory Kennedy (* 1968), married to Mark Bailey, mother of
    - Georgia Elizabeth Kennedy-Bailey (* 2002)
    - Bridget Kennedy-Bailey (* 2004)
    - Zachary Corkland Kennedy Bailey (born July 2007).
- Jean Kennedy Smith (1928–2020), married to Stephen Edward Smith (1927–1990). Children:
  - Stephen Edward Smith, Jr (born 1957)
  - William Kennedy Smith (* 1960)
    - India Rose Smith (* 2012)
    - Stephen Smith (* 2013)
  - Amanda Mary Smith (* 1967), adopted, married to Stephen Carter Hood, mother of
    - Stephanie Hood (* 2002)
  - Kym Maria Smith (* 1972), adopted, married to Alfie Tucker
- Edward "Ted" Kennedy (1932–2009), married 1. to Joan Bennett Kennedy (* 1936, divorced 1982), 2. to Victoria Reggie (* 1954). Children:
  - Kara Ann Kennedy (1960-2011), mother of
    - Grace Kennedy Allen (* 1994)
    - Max Greathouse Allen (* 1996)
  - Edward Moore Kennedy Jr. (* 1961), father of
    - Kiley Elizabeth Kennedy (* 1994)
    - Edward Moore Kennedy III (* 1998)
  - Patrick Joseph Kennedy (* 1967), father of
    - Owen Patrick Kennedy (* 2012)
    - Nora Kara Kennedy (born November 19, 2013)
    - Nell Elizabeth Kennedy (born November 29, 2015)

tragedies

An unusually high number of strokes of fate struck the family and those around them:

In 1941, at the request of her father, the controversial lobotomy was performed on Rosemary Kennedy . As a result of this brain operation, she was disabled for life.

1944

August 12: The eldest son, Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr. , dies when his plane explodes over the English Channel.
September 10: William Cavendish , Kathleen's husband, is killed in Belgium during World War II.

1948: On May 13, the second oldest daughter, Kathleen Kennedy-Cavendish , dies in a plane crash over France.

1956: Jackie Kennedy was stillborn on August 23rd . The girl was to be named Arabella.

1963

August 9: Patrick, the youngest child of Jackie and John F. Kennedy , dies two days after he was born.
November 22nd: John F. Kennedy is shot dead in Dallas .

1964: On June 19, the youngest Edward Kennedy narrowly escapes death in an airplane crash.

1968: Robert F. Kennedy is shot at on June 5 , he dies one day after the attack.

1969: On July 18, Edward Kennedy causes a car accident in which campaign worker Mary Jo Kopechne drowns. He survived again.

1973: Joe Kennedy , son of Robert Kennedy, causes a car accident that leaves his brother David's girlfriend, Pam Kelly, paraplegic.

1984: On April 25, David A. Kennedy , son of Robert Kennedy, dies of a drug overdose .

1991: On March 29, William Kennedy Smith , son of Jean Kennedy Smith , is charged with raping 30-year-old Patricia Bowman at the family home in Palm Beach, Florida, and acquitted despite the evidence.

1997: Michael LeMoyne Kennedy , son of Robert Kennedy, dies in a skiing accident on December 31st . Shortly before that, he hit the headlines for having an affair with his children's underage babysitter.

1999: On July 16, John F. Kennedy, Jr. , his wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and their sister Lauren Bessette died in a plane crash off Martha's Vineyard .

2012: On May 16, Mary Richardson Kennedy (1959–2012), ex-wife of Robert F. Kennedy jr. and mother of four of his six children, found dead; the authorities assume suicide.

2019: On August 1, Saoirse Roisin Kennedy Hill (1997-2019), granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, is found dead; the authorities assume a drug overdose.

2020: On April 2, Maeve Fahey Townsend (1979–2020), granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy and her son Gideon (2011–2020) are killed in a leisure accident.

literature

Richard J. Whalen: The Kennedy Clan: Joseph P. Kennedy and His Sons . Droste, Düsseldorf 1965
John H. Davis: The Kennedy clan: Dynasty and disaster, 1848-1983 . Sidgwick & Jackson, London 1985, ISBN 0-283-99181-X .
Peter Collier, David Horowitz : The Kennedys: An American Drama . Siedler, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-88680-151-9 .
Robert von Rimscha: The Kennedys - glamor and tragedy of the American dream . Campus, Frankfurt / M. 2001, ISBN 3-593-36529-4 .
Edward Klein: The Kennedy's Secret - A Family and Their Curse . Herbig, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-7766-2389-6 .
Hal Buell / Walter R. Mears: The Kennedy Brothers - A Legacy in Pictures , Komet Vlg., Cologne 2009, ISBN 978-3-86941-013-5 .
James W. Graham: Victura: The Kennedys, a Sailboat, and the Sea . Fore Side, 2014, ISBN 978-1-611684117 .
- German by Rudolf Mast: The course of the Kennedys. How a small boat ruled the fate of a large family . Mare Verlag, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-86648-195-4 .

Web links

Commons : Kennedy family - collection of pictures, videos and audio files