Ludwig von Mises

Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (; ; September 29, 1881 – October 10, 1973) was an Austrian-American political economist and philosopher 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. Provided by Wikipedia