Following months of controversy, Carlos Rosenkrantz—a 57-year-old attorney and former dean of The University of San Andrés who describes himself as the “son of a Jewish father with Polish roots and a Catholic teacher”—is set to become the first Jewish justice to sit on Argentina’s Supreme Court, reported JTA. Rosenkrantz, who was nominated by current Argentinian President Mauricio Macri, was approved by a vote of 58-12 in the Senate last week.
During confirmation hearings, a senator asked if his origins from a northern region could bring diversity to the court.
“With regard to regionalism, I consider myself 40 percent Correntinean, I am sensitive to regional diversities. My mother is Correntinean; my father used to say that he was Correntinean … but actually he was a Jew from Corrientes Street, not from the province of Corrientes,” Rosenkrantz said.
He added: “I think that I bring some cultural diversity to the (Supreme) Court.”
It was a long road to confirmation for Rosenkrantz, who taught at New York University and once served as an adviser to former Argentine president Raul Alfonsin. Last December, Macri decreed that he would personally appoint Rosenkrantz and Horacio Rosatti to the court, a move that rankled political opponents and supporters alike, who saw it as an attempt to undermine the legislative process. Two out of the five court seats have remained vacant since January 2015, spurring Macri to his original decision to circumvent the senate. However, he eventually recanted those plans, and the nominees were accepted.
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Jesse Bernstein is a former Intern at Tablet.
