LEONID HURWICZ – a scientist of Polish descent and Warsaw University graduate is a winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Economics.

On October 15th, 2007 the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm informed that the 2007 Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to three American scientists, Leonid Hurwicz, Eric S. Maskin and Roger B. Myerson. They were awarded for work on the theory described as mechanism design theory, which by employing mathematical equations and algorithms enables assessment of proper functioning of markets and defining efficient market mechanisms. Nowadays, the theory initiated by L. Hurwicz and further developed by E. Maskin and R. Myerson plays an important role in many fields of economics and political science – as the Swedish Academy of Sciences justified its decision.

The in-depth research launched by L. Hurwicz affected, among other things, the development of mathematical programming theory, game theory and econometrics. The theory awarded by the Swedish Academy of Sciences finds application in labour disputes and in tax and auction systems design.

Leonid Hurwicz, a retired professor of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, comes from a family of Polish Jews, native Varsovians, who a few months before the outbreak of the 1917 revolution had moved to Moscow for a short period. And it was in Moscow that the future Nobel Prize winner was born on 21 August 1917 (hence incorrect information about his Russian descent found now and then in Western press). In the interwar period Hurwicz lived in the Polish capital and he graduated from Warsaw University in 1938 with Master of Law degree. In 1938 – 1939 he studied at the London School of Economics, in 1939 – 1940 at the Institut des Hautes Études Internationales in Geneva. In 1940, when Poland was under German and Soviet occupation, he emigrated to the USA and continued his studies in economics at the University of Chicago and at Harvard University. His numerous distinctions include a honorary doctorate from Warsaw School of Economics (1994), Northwestern University, USA, Wuham (China) and Universidad Autónoma in Barcelona.

Leonid Hurwicz, currently aged 90, has lived in the United States since 1940. From the 1990ies he has always gladly come back to Warsaw, his home town; he received a honorary doctorate of Warsaw School of Economics. Mr Hurwicz speaks excellent Polish.

Professor L. Hurwicz showed keen interest in the transformation that took place in Poland in the 1990ties and visited Warsaw many times. At the Warsaw School of Economics he gave lectures discussing system transformations, especially the transition from centrally planned to market economy. Whenever opportunity arises, Professor Hurwicz emphasizes his affection for Warsaw; a few years ago he laboriously searched the archives for a pre-war newspaper with his photo as a performer in Polish children’s theatre.