Eric Garcetti

Garcetti was born on February 4, 1971, in Los Angeles, and was raised in Encino in the San Fernando Valley. He is the son of Sukey (née Roth) and Gil Garcetti, the former Los Angeles County District Attorney. Garcetti's paternal grandfather, Salvador, was born in Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico. Salvador was brought by his family to the United States as a child after his father, Massimo "Max" Garcetti, was murdered by hanging during the Mexican Revolution. Max had immigrated to Mexico from Italy. He married a Mexican woman and became a judge. His paternal grandmother, Juanita Iberri, was born in Arizona, one of 19 children born to an immigrant father from Sonora, Mexico, and an Arizona-born mother whose father and mother were both Mexican. Garcetti's maternal grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants. His maternal grandfather, Harry Roth, founded and ran the clothing brand Louis Roth Clothes. Garcetti's family celebrated Passover and Chanukah, and he attended a Jewish camp. Garcetti attended elementary school at UCLA Lab School, formerly University Elementary School; and middle and high school at Harvard-Westlake School. While in high school, he was a member of the Junior State of America, a national civic engagement and political debate organization for students. Garcetti majored in political science and urban planning, and received a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University in 1992 as a John Jay Scholar. During that time, he lived in Carman Hall and Furnald Hall, served on the student council, was president of the St. Anthony Hall fraternity and literary society, founded the Columbia Urban Experience, and co-wrote and performed in three years of the Varsity Show, a student-written musical. He received a Masters of International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, graduating in 1993. He met his future wife while they were both studying as Rhodes Scholars at the University of Oxford, he at the Queen's College, Oxford and she at Wadham College, Oxford. While at Oxford, he was a member of the Oxford University L'Chaim Society founded by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, along with future U.S. senator Cory Booker. He later began studying for a PhD in ethnicity and Eritrean nationalism at the London School of Economics but as of 2024 does not appear to have ever completed the degree.Prior to his election to the Los Angeles City Council, Garcetti was a visiting instructor of international affairs at the University of Southern California, and an assistant professor of diplomacy and world affairs at Occidental College. His academic work focused on ethnic conflict and nationalism in Southeast Asia and Northeast Africa. During this time, he published articles and chapters of books on post-conflict societies, Eritrean nationalism, and non-violent action. He has served on the California board of Human Rights Watch, and currently serves on the advisory board for Young Storytellers, an arts education nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles. Garcetti is a member of the Inter-American Dialogue.