CentralNotice Kennedy curse From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation , search The Kennedy tragedies , [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] commonly known as the Kennedy curse , is a term sometimes used to describe a series of events involving members of the Kennedy family . [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] The notion of a curse is superstitious and was created and fostered by the news media . [ 9 ] [ 10 ] [ 11 ] Chronology [ edit ] Believers in the curse generally cite the following events as evidence of the family's misfortunes: 1941— Rosemary Kennedy was often believed to have been mentally challenged . Some sources have claimed she was suffering from mental illness, such as depression and schizophrenia . Because of her increasingly violent and severe mood swings, her father, Joe, Sr. , arranged in secret for her to undergo a lobotomy . The lobotomy instead further i...