Rosemary Barkett

Rosemary Barkett (née Barakat; born August 29, 1939) is a Mexican-American judge of the Iran–United States Claims Tribunal located in The Hague, Netherlands since 2013. Previously, she served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Prior to her nomination for that post, she was chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court. Born in Mexico to parents who were emigrants from Syria, she is recognized as the first woman, Arab American, and Hispanic judge (of Syrian descent) on the Florida Supreme Court. Background Born Rosemary Barakat in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico, Barkett was the daughter of Syrian immigrants from Zaidal Assad and Mariam Barakat. Barkett's parents had seven children who survived to adulthood. In January 1946, when Barkett was six, her entire family immigrated to Miami, Florida. As a native Mexican by birth, Barakat spoke only Spanish until she moved to Miami. Upon arriving in Miami, the family changed the spelling of its surname to Barkett. Barkett became a United States citizen in 1958 at the age of 18.