Who is Ethel Kennedy, widow of Robert F Kennedy who suffered a stroke?

Massachusetts, United States

Ethel Kennedy, the widow of former US Attorney General Robert F Kennedy, suffered a stroke in her sleep on Thursday morning. 

Her grandson, former Massachusetts Congressman Joseph Kennedy III shared the news of her health on X on Tuesday (Oct 7). According to her family, the 96-year-old Kennedy family matriarch is receiving treatment in the hospital.

“Unfortunately, on Thursday morning she suffered a stroke in her sleep. She was brought to an area hospital, where she is now receiving treatment. She is comfortable, she is getting the best care possible, and she is surrounded by family,” Joseph wrote on X.

“She is, as you may know, a strong woman who has led a remarkably fulfilling life,” added Joseph. “We are here looking after her. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. We ask that you respect our family's privacy at this time.”

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Who is Ethel Kennedy?

Born on April 11, 1928, in Chicago, Illinois to George Skakel, a Protestant, who formed the Great Lakes Carbon Corporation with his co-workers. The family moved to Greenwich, Connecticut in 1936, where she was raised along with her six siblings.

During her education at Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart in September 1945, Ethel was introduced to Robert, who was dating her sister Patricia Skakel at the time. However, soon that relationship ended and Ethel and Robert started seeing each other.

Ethel campaigned for John F. Kennedy in 1946. She got married to Robert in June 1950 and had her first child, Kathleen, in 1951. The family moved to Washington, DC as Robert started working for the Department of Justice.

In 1955, in a tragic event, Ethel's parents were killed in a plane crash.

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Ethel became interested in politics after Robert became the chief counsel to the Senate Select Committee. Soon, she joined the Kennedy family in the presidential campaign for John F. Kennedy, her brother-in-law, who became the president in 1960. Robert was appointed as the attorney general.

After John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, Ethel campaigned for her husband who became the US Senate representing the state of New York. However, just after he won the California Democratic primary, he was assassinated in June 1968. Ethel gave birth to her 11th child, Rory, six months after the death of her husband and never remarried.

During the 1970s Ethel focused her time on public service and various social causes including the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Project. Her son David died due to a drug overdose in 1984, and her other son Michael died in a skiing accident in 1997.

Ethel founded the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Centre, is co-chairperson of the Coalition of Gun Control, and is involved with other human rights organisations. In 2014, she was honoured with a Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Barack Obama.

(With inputs from agencies)