Alexander Gerschenkron American economist and historian Date of Birth: 01.10.1904 Country: USA

1. Early Life and Education
2. Early Career and Political Activities
3. Later Career and Academic Achievements
4. Intellectual Contributions
5. Personal Life

Early Life and Education

Alexander Gerschenkron was born in Odessa, Russia, to Pavel Gerschenkron, a Jewish economist and industrialist, and Sofia Kardonskaya, a Russian Orthodox Christian. His father had studied at the University of Novorossiysk, the Sorbonne, and the London School of Economics, and at the age of 24 became a junior partner in a large Odessa industrial firm. Before marrying, Pavel converted to Russian Orthodoxy. Alexander had a brother and a sister.

After six years of gymnasium studies, Alexander's education was interrupted by the Russian Revolution and Civil War. He emigrated with his father to Austria in 1920, where his father managed a factory. Alexander enrolled in the University of Vienna's National Economics School in 1924 and earned a doctorate in political science in 1928.

Early Career and Political Activities

After graduating, Gerschenkron became the Austrian and Balkan representative of a Belgian motorcycle company. In 1928, he married Erica Maschnig, a classmate from Viennese gymnasium. His father-in-law was the editor of the Social Democratic Party of Austria's newspaper. Gerschenkron joined the Social Democratic Party and became actively involved in its activities, participating in the February 1934 uprising and sustaining injuries.

Later Career and Academic Achievements

In 1937, Gerschenkron began working at the Institute for Business Cycle Research. In 1938, he moved to the United States, where he held research positions at the University of California, Berkeley, and later became a lecturer in economic history. In 1944, he was appointed as an economist-analyst at the Federal Reserve Board. After stints at the Office of Strategic Services and the State Department, he returned to the Federal Reserve in 1946, where he headed the International Section of the Research and Statistics Division.

In 1948, Gerschenkron accepted a professorship in economic history at Harvard University, where he remained until 1975. He served as the president of the Economic History Association, which awards an annual "Alexander Gerschenkron Prize" for the best dissertation in non-American economic history completed outside the United States and Canada.

Intellectual Contributions

Gerschenkron is known for his "Gerschenkron Effect," which explains how the choice of a base year for calculating industrial output growth can significantly influence the measured growth rate in a relatively unindustrialized country. He also formulated the "Advantage of Backwardness" theory, which posits that backward economies can develop more rapidly by borrowing technologies from more advanced economies, potentially bypassing entire stages of development.

Personal Life

Alexander and Erica Gerschenkron had two daughters. Alexander was known for his polyglot skills, erudition, and phenomenal memory. He was a frequent patron of the Long Table at the Harvard Faculty Club, where his encyclopedic knowledge and wit were highly admired by fellow intellectuals.