Kazimierz Laski, Polish-born Austrian economist, Died at 93

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Kazimierz Łaski was born on December 15, 1921, and passed away on October 20, 2015.

Kazimierz was a Polish-Austrian economist. He was one of the most famous representatives of Post-Keynesian economics in Austria.

Kazimierz was born in Warsaw. He studied political economy at the Academy of Political Sciences (Akademia Nauk Politycznych), and at the University for Planning and Statistics (Szkola Glowna Planowania I Statystyki – SGPiS) in Warsaw (1945–1954), and did his doctoral studies at the Institute for Social Sciences at the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party (Institut Nauk Spolecznych przy KC PZPR – INS).

He earned his doctorate in 1954 with a dissertation on “Accumulation and consumption during the industrialization of the People’s Republic of Poland”.

Kazimierz started work at the SGPiS in 1949 as an assistant to Professor Włodzimierz Brus.

In 1955 he became assistant professor and in 1960 associate professor at the Chair of Political Economy of the Faculty of Foreign Trade at the SGPiS.

In his capacity he supervised research and teaching, which made him invite Michał Kalecki, one of the most prominent Polish economists to give courses at the SGPiS.

At the same time, Kazimierz lectured at the INS and, after its closure, at the University for Social Sciences at the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party (Wyzsza Szkola Nauk Spolecznych przy KC PZPR – WSNS).

In 1957 – 1960, Kazimierz was deputy-dean and then dean of the Faculty of Economics of Production, and in 1961 – 1963 deputy Chancellor of the SGPiS in charge of teaching and research.

In 1961–1966 Kazimierz served as a member of the executive committee of the Higher Education Council at the Ministry of Higher Education.

He was one of the founders of the Higher Course in Planning for Economists from Developing Countries, chaired its scientific council and thereafter Deputy Head of the Course in 1963–1968.

In 1965–1968, Kazimierz was president of the Warsaw Chapter of the Polish Economic Society.

In 1960, Kazimierz held a Ford scholarship at the Institut de sciences économiques appliquées (with Professor François Perroux) in Paris.

In 1964, he was visiting professor at the Institute for Higher Studies and Scientific Research (IHS) in Vienna, and during the academic year 1966–1967 “Directeur d’études à titre étrangère” at the Ecole pratique des hautes études, Sorbonne in Paris.

Kazimierz died at age 93 in October 2015.