Alfredo Fernández Simó was born in San Francisco de Macoris, Dominican Republic, the son of a classical musician Juan Antonio Fernández and Castillo and Beatriz Simó Kinipping Lucila, of Catalan and German descent. He attended elementary and secondary school in his hometown where he completed high school in 1935. Later he entered the University of Santo Domingo to pursue a law degree, but would drop out two years later.