Axel Kicillof is an Argentine economist and politician serving as Governor of Buenos Aires Province since December 10, 2019. A member of the Peronist left-wing coalition Unión por la Patria (formerly Frente de Todos and Homeland Force), he previously served as Argentina's Minister of Economy and Public Finances from November 18, 2013, to December 10, 2015, under President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Prior to that, as deputy minister, he directed the 2012 expropriation of a 51% stake in YPF from Repsol, which led to international arbitration and a 2025 U.S. court ruling ordering Argentina to pay up to $16 billion in compensation to shareholders. He also served as a National Deputy for the City of Buenos Aires from 2015 to 2019. His tenure as economy minister involved heterodox policies, debt restructurings with holdout creditors, amid rising inflation, capital flight, and a censure by the International Monetary Fund. Born on September 25, 1971, in Buenos Aires as the second of three children to psychoanalyst Daniel Kicillof and psychologist Nora Barenstein, both of Jewish origin, Kicillof was raised in the upscale Recoleta neighborhood. His father died when he was 22. A Keynesian economist, he graduated top of his class from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) with a degree in Economics in 1995 and earned a PhD in Economics from UBA in 2005, focusing on John Maynard Keynes. He has been a professor and researcher at UBA and CONICET, authoring books like 'Fundamentals of the General Theory' and 'Economy without a Tie'. During university, he led the student group Tontos pero No Tanto (TNT) and joined La Cámpora, the Kirchnerist youth group, shifting from Marxist economics to Peronism. Kicillof joined the Justicialist Party and has been described for his charisma and strong belief in state intervention. He faced legal scrutiny, including a 2016 asset freeze ordered by Judge Claudio Bonadio alongside Kirchner for alleged speculative dollar sales by the Central Bank causing losses before the 2015 election.