Carmen Argibay

Carmen María Argibay (15 June 1939 – 10 May 2014) was a member of the Supreme Court of Argentina. She was the first woman to be nominated for the Court by a democratic government in Argentina, and caused some controversy upon declaring herself an atheist and a supporter of legal abortion.

Early life Born in Buenos Aires, Argibay studied at the Law Faculty of the University of Buenos Aires, becoming a lawyer on 11 June 1964.

She worked in a number of public judicial offices and taught in several universities, until 1976. On 24 March of that year, a coup d'état started the dictatorship of the National Reorganization Process. The military junta had her arrested, without formal charges, and held her in prison until December. After being released she devoted herself to private law practice.

After the return of democratic rule, on 7 June 1984, she was appointed judge in a criminal court in Buenos Aires. She was promoted in 1988 and again in 1993, and finally retired from her post on 1 January 2002.

Argibay was awarded the 2007 Gruber Prize for Justice (shared with Chilean judge Carlos Cerda and Peruvian lawyer Mónica Feria Tinta) for her promotion of gender equality and eliminating corruption within the justice system.

She died on 10 May 2014 after suffering respiratory, cardiac and intestinal problems.