Hernán Santa Cruz

Hernán Santa Cruz (1906–1999) was a Chilean delegate to the United Nations, judge, lawyer and one of the initial drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Hernán Santa Cruz in 1966.

Born in Initially a lecturer on criminal and military procedure prior to his appointment as a judge to Chile's Superior Military Court, Cruz's role in the United Nations, as a delegate of the Third Committee and Human Rights Commission, was a formative one.

According to Susan Waltz, although Cruz "held no position of responsibility...his political and substantive contributions were such" that his co-drafter, John Peters Humphrey, and the author Johannes Morsink later singled out the important role he played in shaping the Declaration's transition away from "eighteenth century Enlightenment philosophy" towards "socioeconomic rights."[1]

The U.S. State Department observed that during his service at the UN, "on one occasion while his family was out of town," he "sold the entire household effects, including his wife's clothing, and gave the proceeds to his mistress."[2]

According to the United Nations, in addition to his work on the declaration, Cruz was "actively involved in the establishment of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean."[3]

References
  1. "nav_midleft". ccnmtl.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  2. Brian A. W. Simpson, Human Rights and the End of Empire: Britain and the Genesis of the European Convention (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 364.
  3. Voinea, Nicoleta. "Research Guides: Drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Drafting Committee". research.un.org. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
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