His name is Kerry. He is from Boston. He is a Catholic. He is prominent in St Patrick's Day celebrations. His initials are the same as John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Everyone assumed, naturally, that Senator John F Kerry of Massachusetts, one of the Democratic front-runners for president in 2004, is Irish American.
Not so, it seems, according to a genealogical investigation by the Boston Globe. Mr Kerry's immigrant grandfather adopted the name Frederick A. Kerry and converted to Catholicism, but was born Fritz Kohn, the son of Jewish parents, in what was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Senator Kerry's paternal grandmother was also Jewish and changed her religion to Catholicism before marrying Mr Kerry's grandfather.
The senator knew that his grandmother was Jewish but aides said he was stunned to learn of the discovery about his grandfather.
The Globe also reported how Mr Kerry's grandfather committed suicide at the Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston in 1921, shooting himself in the head in a bathroom.
Mr Kerry has said before he is from Austrian roots - something his office pointed out yesterday to fend off any allegations he had been knowingly posed as Irish American for political advantage in a city with a large Irish American population.
"Kerry has never said he is Irish-American and has always corrected it when people have assumed it because of his name," said his spokesman.