Antonin Scalia

He went into the wedlock with Maureen McCarthy, whom he first met when he went on a blind date during his years at Harvard Law School. She was an alumnus of Radcliffe College and obtained a degree in English. The couple has been blessed with nine children, five sons and four daughters.

He died in his sleep from a possible heart attack in the early morning of February 13, 2016,

Antonin Scalia was born to Salvatore Eugene Scalia and Catherine Scalia. While his mother was an elementary school teacher, his father was a clerk who went on to become a professor of Romance language at the Brooklyn College.

At the age of six, his family relocated to Elmhurst, Queens in New York City. Since he was the only child of the family, he received all the attention and attraction. However, expectations from him were extremely high.

Academically a bright student, he attained his basic education from a public school, later on obtaining a scholarship to complete his high school studies from the Jesuit-run Xavier High School in Manhattan. He finished first in his class.

In 1953, he enrolled at Georgetown University from where he graduated valedictorian and summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history four years later.

He then went on to study law at the Harvard Law School. It was while at the law school that he served as a Notes Editor for Harvard Law Review. In 1960, he graduated with a magna cum laude.

His legal career kick-started at the law office of Jones, Day, Cockley and Reavis in Cleveland in 1961. Though he was highly regarded and showed the promise to rise up to the rank of becoming a partner at the organization, he realized that this wasn’t his true calling.

Walking on the footsteps of his father, he took up the position of Professor of Law at the University of Virginia in 1967, thus realizing his long-cherished dream. He moved along with his family to Charlottesville, Virginia

His service at the university ended in 1971, when he entered public service. He was offered the post of General Counsel for the Office of Telecommunications Policy by President Richard Nixon. His duty involved preparing public policy for the growth of cable television.

For two years, from 1972 until 1974, he held the post of the Chairman of the Administrative Conference of United States. A small agency, it aimed to augment the working of the federal bureaucracy.

During Nixon’s regime, he was nominated as one of the ideal candidates for the seat of the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel. Despite Gerald Ford taking over the office of the President, his nomination continued and was later confirmed by the Senate on August 22, 1974.