The Right Honorable Sir Kennedy Alphonse Simmonds was born
On this day in history, on April 12, 1936, the Right Honorable Sir Kennedy Alphonse Simmonds, the Premier of St. Kitts and Nevis was born in Basseterre, St. Kitts.
In 1965, at the age of 28, Simmonds became a Founding Member of the People’s Action Movement, (P.A.M.)in Saint Kitts and Nevis, and was elected President of the party in 1976.
Simmonds was the country’s first prime minister from February 21, 1980 to September 1983, when Saint Kitts and Nevis obtained its independence from the United Kingdom. He is also one of the founding members of the People’s Action Movement (PAM).
On September 16, 2004 Simmonds was appointed as a Knight Commander in the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael & Saint George. On September 16, 2015, National Heroes Day, Simmonds was honored as the fifth person to be named a National Hero and the first living person to receive the honor.
Simmonds was lauded for ushering the “world’s smallest and freest” country into Nationhood and for steering the country to highest levels of growth in the Hemisphere.
Sir Kennedy is married to Lady Mary Simmonds. He has five children – Pauline, Michael, Kennedy Alphonse, Kenrick and Keris.
