January | 29, 2019 :: Former Union defence minister George Fernandes passed away at the age of 88 on Tuesday morning following a prolonged illness.
Fernandes was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
George Mathew Fernandes (born 3 June 1930 – 29 Jan 2019) was a former Indian trade unionist, politician, journalist, agriculturist, and member of Rajya Sabha from Bihar.He was a key member of the Janata Dal and is the founder of the Samata Party. He has held several ministerial portfolios including communications, industry, railways, and defence.
George Fernandes was born on 3 June 1930 to John Joseph Fernandes and Alice Martha Fernandes, in Mangaluru then Mangalore to a Mangalorean Catholic family. The eldest of six children, his siblings are Lawrence, Michael, Paul, Aloysius, and Richard. His mother was a great admirer of King George V (who was also born on 3 June), hence she named her first son George. His father was employed by the Peerless Finance groupas an insurance executive, and headed their office of South India for several years. George was fondly called “Gerry” in close family circles. He attended his first few years of schooling at a government school near his house called “Board school”, a municipal school and a church school.
