Biography
Frederick Audley Mitchell Jr., who prefers to be called Fred Mitchell, was born on 5th October, 1953 to Mr. Frederick A. Mitchell Sr. and Lilla A. Mitchell (nee Forde) of Collins Avenue, Nassau now both deceased. He was christened in St. Agnes Anglican Church and remains a church-going member there.
Mr. Mitchell attended the Eastern Junior School and a number of other public schools in Nassau before being accepted as a scholarship student at St. Augustine’s College, Fox Hill in 1965. He graduated as President of the Student Council of St. Augustine’s in 1970.
Mr. Mitchell learned the ropes of the Public Service early on beginning his working career as a messenger cum trainee writer in the summer of 1970 in the public relations arm of the Ministry of Tourism then known as The Bahamas Tourist News Bureau. He polished his communications through a first degree in English from the noted Antioch University in Yellow Springs, Ohio from which he graduated in 1974. Later that same year Mr. Mitchell joined the Public Affairs Division of The Bahamas Information Services as a radio producer.
In 1977 Mr. Mitchell joined the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas (ZNS) at the time of its introduction of local television to The Bahamas. He served there as Director of News and Public Affairs.
In 1979, after a sterling performance at ZNS Mr. Mitchell left the Corporation and returned to University, this time to achieve a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at prestigious Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Mr. Mitchell returned to The Bahamas in 1980, when he joined the staff of the Office of the Prime Minister. In 1981, Mr. Mitchell became the editor of ‘The Herald’, official newspaper of The Progressive Liberal Party. He left The Herald in 1983 to study law at the University of Buckingham in England where he earned a Bachelor of Laws Degree.
Mr. Mitchell was called to the Bar of England in Wales in 1986 and later to The Bahamas Bar in September of that same year. He is a member of Grays Inn.
Professionally, Mr. Mitchell practiced law at Gwendolyn House, Dowdeswell Street in Nassau before his appointment to the Cabinet in 2002. In addition, Mr. Mitchell served as Chairman of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government’s Alumni Association from 2000 – 2002. He was the first former international student to serve in that post. He was also a Director of the International Mutual Fund.
Mr. Mitchell is a founding member of The Bahamas Committee on Southern Africa, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that was registered with the United Nations as an anti-apartheid organization. He was personally thanked by the legendary Nelson Mandela for his role in the international fight against apartheid.
Mr. Mitchell represented The Bahamas as a member of the Commonwealth Observer Mission to South Africa (COMSA) in 1992 and 1993. He was also a founding member of the New Providence Human Rights Association. Mr. Mitchell was appointed to the Senate of The Bahamas on 2nd September, 1992 and resigned on 8th January, 1997. During that time, he served as Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Culture. He was reappointed to the Senate as a member of the Opposition on 8th April, 1997.
In Opposition, Mr. Mitchell served in the Shadow Cabinet as the Official Opposition’s spokesman on Foreign Affairs, Labour and Immigration.
In 1998, Mr. Mitchell founded a weekly internet political column at www.fredmitchelluncensored.com, which in April 2002 received more than 140, 000 hits.
In the General Election of May 2002, Mr. Mitchell was elected as the Progressive Liberal Party Member of Parliament for the historic constituency of Fox Hill where he is active in the community and has maintained an office since 1997.
On 10th May, 2002, Mr. Mitchell was appointed to the Cabinet of the Government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas as Minister with responsibility of Foreign Affairs and the Public Service.