Peter Kevin Murphy was born September 11, 1936, in Medford, Massachusetts and was raised in Winchester, Massachusetts. Murphy graduated with a BA in English from Boston College in 1959. He served in the United States Army from 1960 to 1961. In 1962, he entered the United States Foreign Service. Over the next thirty years, he served in a variety of positions, including vice consul, consul, consul general, minister counselor, charge d’affaires, and special envoy, at embassies in Paris (1962-1965 and 1972-1975), Buenos Aires (1966-1967), Milan (1967-1972), Nice and Monaco (1975-1977), Genoa (1981-1984), the Holy See (1984-1988), Bonn (1989-1991), and Bucharest (1991-1993). He also worked as the Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs in Washington, DC (1977-1980). He was made a Knight of the Order of Grimaldi by Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1983 and was decorated with the Grand Cross “Pro Merito Melitensi” by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in 2010.
Murphy retired from the Foreign Service in 1993 and began working in the private sector. He was a senior advisor for Stanley Associates from 1994 to 1999, and was the president of Festival Management S.A.M. from 1999 to 2004. In 2006 he formed his own company, Marco Research S.A.M.
Murphy married Jacqueline Senouillet in 1965 and they had two sons, Paul and Marc. The Murphys were close friends with the royal family of Monaco during their time in the region and continued their friendship and correspondence after leaving Monaco.
