The Sad Story Of Rosemary Kennedy

Sister of Robert, Ted and John Fitzgerald Kennedy,  Rosemary Kennedy was the victim of one of the most terrible psychiatric techniques of the  time: lobotomy.

The history of lobotomy is still too recent to ignore. For much of the twentieth century it was considered a suitable technique for healing diseases such  as schizophrenia, depression and even behaviors considered out of the ordinary or violent.

One of its greatest architects was, without doubt, Walter Freeman, a doctor who developed the original technique devised by Egas Moniz, and who in his career boasts the creation of more than 3000 lobotomies, sometimes even 25 a day. Eventually, thankfully, he was stopped, and he spent most of his life trying to prove that this technique was indeed good for his patients.

However, can it really be assumed that lobotomy was the right way to resolve violent behaviors and diseases such as schizophrenia? Dissecting the nerve pathways between the frontal lobe and the subcortical nuclei did not prevent aggressive behaviors. Then came antipsychotics and chlorpromazine, for example, which would open up a new therapeutic field. However, leaving many victims of this practice anonymous. Victims who would then emerge from the darkness and come into the sunlight, and it turned out that some were not exactly anonymous unknowns.

As in the case of Rosemary Kennedy.

The Kennedy Family Secret

Rosemary was the third child of the large Kennedy family, sister, for example, to Johm Fitzgerald, and six other siblings. It was the slowest and least brilliant of all. She was dyslexic and it is deduced from the descriptions of the time that she had a mild mental retardation, perhaps she was suffering from borderline disorder. To this was certainly added the tough internal competition of the family, where his brothers achieved success in their studies and continuous social recognition. It was almost predictable that as adolescence arrived, his problems would increase and his defiant attitudes, protests and arguments would begin.

Her father, Joe Kennedy preferred siblings and could not conceive of his daughter having mild mental retardation. However, the situation escalated when Rosemary began running away from home, returning every day with a different boyfriend. She did not do well in her studies and did not have a stable boyfriend with whom to end a good marriage. Mr. Kennedy could accept that his sons had all the mistresses they wanted, but he feared most of all that Rosemary would become pregnant. It would have been a scandal that he could not risk for his public image. What could he do?

It was not long before he got in touch with Dr. Walter Freeman and his revolutionary medical technique. The young woman’s aggressive and misplaced attitudes would be corrected quickly. Plus, they hoped to get what Joe Kennedy wanted most, to raise their daughter’s IQ. So all the preparations for the operation were made. All the brothers and most of the family had opposed the operation, but the decisions of Patriarch Kennedy carried too much weight for the others to object.

Rosemary was 23 when she was given the lobotomy in 1941.The operation was so bad that one of the nurses working alongside Walter Freeman left her job the following day. Did the operation do any good? You can already imagine what the result was. After the surgery, Rosemary Kennedy remained in the mental state of a three-year-old girl.

Discovery of the invisible Kennedy

After seeing the result of the operation, Joe Kennedy quickly made a decision. Rosemary would cease to exist publicly. For a time it was said that she worked as a governess in Winsonsin, later that she suffered from meningitis and was therefore in hospital. However, the truth was quite different and it was sadder. This woman spent her life hospitalized in institutions throughout the United States. It is said that the patriarch of the Kennedys never regretted that decision, the career of his children was beginning to appear on the political landscape and the figure of someone like Rosemary could be counterproductive.

It was in October 1975 that the truth came to light, with the title: “The invisible Kennedy discovered”. They had taken Rosemary to a religious institution and she had escaped. She had fled the church without the nurses or family noticing. A reporter followed her and realized what was happening. At that time she was 57 years old and was locked up in the cloistered convent of Santa Colette (Wisconsin).

Truly a shame and an example of the most incomprehensible psychiatric techniques in history. Rosemary Kennedy died in 2005, and was, without knowing it, one of the few survivors of a family that has collected so many successes, but also so many tragedies.