George Fernandes - Early Life

Early Life

George Fernandes was born on 3 June 1930 to John Joseph Fernandes and Alice Martha Fernandes (née Pinto), in 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 group as an insurance executive, and headed their office of South India for several years. George was fondly called "Gerry" in close family circles. He completed his Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) at St. Aloysius College, Mangalore.

In the orthodox tradition of the family, George being the eldest son, was sent for religious education to St Peter's Seminary in Bangalore at the age of 16, to be trained as a Roman Catholic priest from 1946 to 1948. At the age of 19, he left the seminary due to sheer frustration because he was appalled that the rectors ate better food and sat at higher tables than the seminarians. He later confessed that, "I was disillusioned, because there was a lot of difference between precept and practice where the Church was concerned." He began work at the age of 19, organising exploited workers in the road transport industry and in the hotels and restaurants in Mangalore.