ECONOMISTS from Ukraine

Top 7

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Ukrainian Economists of all time. This list of famous Ukrainian Economists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Ludwig von Mises (1881 - 1973)

With an HPI of 70.71, Ludwig von Mises is the most famous Ukrainian Economist.  His biography has been translated into 60 different languages on wikipedia.

Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (German: [ˈluːtvɪç fɔn ˈmiːzəs]; 29 September 1881 – 10 October 1973) was an Austrian-American economist, logician, sociologist and philosopher of economics of the Austrian school. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the societal contributions of classical liberalism and the power of consumers. He is best known for his work in praxeology, particularly for studies comparing communism and capitalism, as well as for being a defender of classical liberalism in the face of rising illiberalism and authoritarianism throughout much of Europe during the 20th century. Mises emigrated from Austria to the United States in 1940, fleeing from Nazis who on the first day the German Army entered Vienna rushed into the von Mises apartment in Vienna, apparently looking for him, and confiscated his library and papers. Mises was in Geneva, Switzerland at the time, but when the German invasion of France was about to leave Switzerland completely surrounded by Fascist and Nazi controlled territory, von Mises and his wife found it necessary to flee through France dodging German troops, to get to the US via Spain and Portugal. Since the mid-20th century, both libertarian movements and the field of economics as a whole, have been strongly influenced by Mises's writings. Mises's student Friedrich Hayek viewed Mises as one of the major figures in the revival of classical liberalism in the post-war era. Hayek's work The Transmission of the Ideals of Freedom (1951) pays high tribute to the influence of Mises in the 20th-century libertarian movement. Economist Tyler Cowen lists his writings as "the most important works of the 20th century" and as "among the most important economics articles, ever". Mises's Private Seminar created a leading group of economists. Many of its alumni, including Friedrich Hayek and Oskar Morgenstern, emigrated from Austria to the United States and Great Britain. Mises has been described as having approximately seventy close students in Austria. Mises received many honors throughout the course of his lifetime—honorary doctorates from Grove City College (1957), New York University (1963), and the University of Freiburg (1964) in Germany. His accomplishments were recognized in 1956 by his alma mater, the University of Vienna, when his doctorate was memorialized on its 50th anniversary and "renewed," a European tradition, and in 1962 by the Austrian government. He was also cited in 1969 as "Distinguished Fellow" by the American Economic Association.

2. Abba P. Lerner (1903 - 1982)

With an HPI of 54.48, Abba P. Lerner is the 2nd most famous Ukrainian Economist.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Abraham "Abba" Ptachya Lerner (also Abba Psachia Lerner; 28 October 1903 – 27 October 1982) was a Russian-born American-British economist.

3. Grigory Yavlinsky (b. 1952)

With an HPI of 53.23, Grigory Yavlinsky is the 3rd most famous Ukrainian Economist.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Grigory Alekseyevich Yavlinsky (Russian: Григо́рий Алексе́евич Явли́нский, romanized: Grigóriy Aleksyéyevich Yavlínskiy; born 10 April 1952) is a Russian economist and politician. He has held numerous positions in the Soviet and Russian governments across different levels, including in the State Duma. Yavlinsky was one of authors of the 500 Days Program, a plan for the transition of the Soviet regime to a free-market economy, and is the former leader of the opposition Yabloko party. He has run three times for Russia's presidency. In 1996 he ran against Boris Yeltsin, finishing fourth with 7.3% of the vote. In 2000 Yavlinsky ran against Vladimir Putin, finishing third with 5.8%. In the 2012 presidential election he was prevented from running for president by Russian authorities, despite collecting the necessary 2 million signatures of Russian citizens for his candidacy. Yavlinsky was Yabloko's candidate for Russian President in the 2018 presidential election, when he ran against Putin and got 1.05% of the vote, according to the results. Many of the election results were not recognised by his party due to corroborated allegations of irregularities. Yavlinsky holds a PhD in economics from the Central Economic Mathematical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences; his doctoral dissertation was entitled "The socio-economic system of Russia and the problem of its modernisation". He is a professor at the National Research University Higher School of Economics.

4. Alexander Gerschenkron (1904 - 1978)

With an HPI of 51.02, Alexander Gerschenkron is the 4th most famous Ukrainian Economist.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Alexander Gerschenkron (Russian: Александр Гершенкрон; 1 October 1904 – 26 October 1978) was an American economic historian and professor at Harvard University, trained in the German Historical School of economics. Born into a Jewish family in Odessa, then part of the Russian Empire, now in Ukraine, Gerschenkron fled the country during the Russian Civil War in 1920 to Austria, where he attended the University of Vienna, earning a doctorate in 1928. After the Anschluss in 1938, he emigrated to the United States.

5. Zbigniew Messner (1929 - 2014)

With an HPI of 48.81, Zbigniew Messner is the 5th most famous Ukrainian Economist.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Zbigniew Stefan Messner (Polish: [ˈzbiɡɲɛf ˈmɛsnɛr] ; 13 March 1929 – 10 January 2014) was a Polish communist politician and economist. His ancestors were of German Polish descent who had assimilated into Polish society. In 1972, he became Professor of Karol Adamiecki University of Economics in Katowice. In the 1980s, Messner held numerous high ranking posts within communist party apparatus. He was a member of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR) from 1981 to 1990, when PZPR was dissolved, member of the PZPR Politburo from 1981 to 1988, Deputy Prime Minister from 1983 to 1985, member of Sejm from 1985 to 1989, Prime Minister of Polish People's Republic from 1985 to 1988 and member of the State Council of the Polish People's Republic from 1988 to 1989. Additionally in the 1960s Messner was the chairman of Piast Gliwice football club.

6. Paul A. Baran (1909 - 1964)

With an HPI of 47.90, Paul A. Baran is the 6th most famous Ukrainian Economist.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Paul Alexander Baran (; 25 August 1909 – 26 March 1964) was an American Marxist economist. In 1951, Baran was promoted to full professor at Stanford University. He was the only tenured Marxian economist in the United States until his death in 1964. He wrote The Political Economy of Growth in 1957 and co-authored Monopoly Capital with Paul Sweezy.

7. Rose Friedman (1910 - 2009)

With an HPI of 44.91, Rose Friedman is the 7th most famous Ukrainian Economist.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Rose Director Friedman ; born Rose Director (30 December 1910 – 18 August 2009) was a free-market economist and co-founder of the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation.