Rose Fitzgerald
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Rose Kennedy Countess of the Holy See |
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Rose Kennedy in 1967
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| Born |
Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald July 22, 1890 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | January 22, 1995 (aged 104) Hyannis, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Complications from pneumonia |
| Resting place | Holyhood Cemetery |
| Education |
Girls' Latin School Dorchester High School |
| Alma mater |
New England Conservatory Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart |
| Known for | Kennedy family matriarch |
| Title | Countess |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. (m. 1914; d. 1969) |
| Children | Joseph Jr., John, Rosemary, Kathleen, Eunice, Patricia, Robert, Jean and Ted |
| Parent(s) |
John F. Fitzgerald Mary Josephine Hannon |
| Relatives | See Kennedy family |
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Countess Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy (July 22, 1890 – January 22, 1995) was an American philanthropist, centenarian and socialite. She was deeply embedded in the "lace curtain" Irish Catholic community in Boston, where her father was mayor. She was the wife of businessman and investor Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., who was United States Ambassador to the Court of St James's. Their nine children included President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and longtime Senator Ted Kennedy. She was the sixth American woman to be granted the title of Countess by the Vatican.
Rose was born at 4 Garden Court in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. She was the eldest of six children born to Boston Mayor John Francis "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald (1863–1950) and Mary Josephine "Josie" Hannon (1865–1964). Her siblings were Mary, Thomas, John Jr., Eunice, and Frederick.
As a young child, she lived in an Italianate/Mansard-style home in the Ashmont Hill section of Dorchester, Massachusetts and attended the local Girl's Latin School. The home later burned down, but a plaque at Welles Avenue and Harley Street proclaims "Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Square". The plaque was dedicated by her son, Senator Ted Kennedy, on her 102nd birthday in 1992.
Kennedy studied at the convent school Kasteel Bloemendal in Vaals, The Netherlands, and graduated from Dorchester High School in 1906. She also attended the New England Conservatory in Boston where she studied piano. After being refused permission by her father to attend Wellesley College, Fitzgerald enrolled at the Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart (as it was then known) in Manhattan, an institution that did not grant degrees at the time. In 1908, Fitzgerald and her father embarked on a tour of Europe. She and Honey Fitz had a private audience with Pope St. Pius X at the Vatican.
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