Ethel Kennedy

Ethel Kennedy: Biography in Details

Who is Ethel Kennedy?

Ethel Kennedy was an American human rights advocate, and wife of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

Ethel Kennedy: Age, Childhood, Family

Ethel Kennedy was born on 11th April 1928. As of 2021, Ethel is 93 years old. By birth, her name was Ethel Skakel.  She was born in Chicago, Illinois to George Skakel and Ann Brannock. Her father, George Skakel, was an American businessman and the founder of Great Lakes Carbon Corporation. Ethel’s parents died in a 1955 plane crash.

Ethel is the third of four daughters and the sixth child of seven. Georgeann, James, George Jr., Rushton, Patricia, and Ann are her siblings. In 1945, She graduated from the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Manhattan.

Ethel began her college education at Manhattanville College in September 1945. There she met her soon-to-be sister-in-law, Jean Kennedy. She first met Jean’s brother, Robert, during a ski trip to Mont Tremblant Resort in December 1945. During this trip, Robert started dating Ethel’s elder sister, Patricia. After the relationship ended, Ethel and Robert started dating.

Ethel campaigned for Robert’s elder brother, John F. Kennedy, in his 1946 campaign for the United States Congress. She received a bachelor’s degree from Manhattanville in 1949.

Ethel and Robert got engaged in February 1950 and married on 17th June 1950 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenwich. Robert was assassinated on 5th June 1968. The couple had eleven children: Joseph, Kathleen, Robert Jr., David, Courtney, Michael, Kerry, Christopher, Douglas, Max, and Rory.

Ethel Kennedy: Profession/Career

Ethel was a human rights advocate. During the 1950s, Robert worked for the federal government in investigatory roles for the US Senate as a counsel. President Kennedy assigned Robert and Ethel to tour fourteen countries within a 28-days trip in 1952.

After President Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, Ethel encouraged her husband to enter the Democratic primary for the 1968 presidential election. In 1968, she and Robert founded the Center for Justice and Human Rights.

Still today, Ethel stands for democracy and human rights. She among hundreds marched near the home of Wendy’s chairman Belson Peltz to convince the company to pay an additional one cent per pound of tomatoes to increase the wages of field workers in 2016.

Ethel Kennedy: Awards/Legacy

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan honored Ethel with the Robert F. Kennedy medal in the White House Rose Garden.

A bridge over the Anacostia River was named after Ethel in recognition of her advocacy for environmentalism and social cause in Columbia in 2014. It is called Ethel Kenndey Bridge.

The same year, President Obama awarded her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her dedication to “advancing social justice, human rights, and poverty reduction by creating countless ripples of hope to effect change around the world”.

Ethel Kennedy: Net Worth, Assets, Salary

Ethel dedicated her life to human rights for lower-class people. According to various sources, Ethel estimated net worth is around $50 million. Information about her assets and salary is not available.

Height, Weight, Body Measurement

Ethel is around 5 feet and 6inches tall and weighs around 65kg. Ethel has brown eyes and brown hair.

Social Media

Ethel is not available on social media. Ethel does not have any social media accounts.

Trivia

• After Robert’s death, Ethel publicly announced she wouldn’t marry again.

Also read: Deborah Ayorinde and John Lee Bottom

Ethel Kennedy's Anniversary Dates

Ethel Kennedy's Birthday Dates