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Albert AftalionFrench economist of Bulgarian origin
Date of Birth: 21.10.1874
Country:  France |
Content:
Early Life and Education
Alexandre Aftalion, a French economist of Bulgarian origin, was born in 1874 in Ruse, Bulgaria, to a Sephardic Jewish family. In 1876, his family immigrated to Nancy, France. Aftalion pursued his higher education in Paris, receiving a doctorate in law in 1898 and a doctorate in economics in 1899, both from the University of Paris.
Academic Career
Aftalion's academic career spanned several institutions. From 1900 to 1922, he served as a professor at the University of Lille. Subsequently, he held the professorship of statistics at the University of Paris from 1922 to 1934, and the professorship of political economy from 1934 to 1940.
During the Nazi occupation of France, Aftalion faced anti-Semitism and was dismissed from his university position in 1940. He spent the war years in Toulouse. After the war, he was reinstated at the Sorbonne and taught until his retirement in 1950.
From 1950 to 1951, Aftalion served as the first president of the French Association of Economic Sciences.
Contributions to Economic Theory
Aftalion's notable contributions to economic theory lie in the area of business cycles. In a series of articles and books published in 1909 and 1913, he developed the theory of the accelerator, which describes the relationship between changes in consumer demand and the subsequent changes in demand for investment goods. This theory expanded upon the ideas of Austrian economist Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk and became a foundational concept in understanding economic fluctuations.
