Background
Alexander Gerschenkron was born on October 1, 1904 in Russia. He was a son of Paul and Sophie (Kardow) Gerschenkron.
Alexander Gerschenkron was born on October 1, 1904 in Russia. He was a son of Paul and Sophie (Kardow) Gerschenkron.
In 1928 he received a doctorate from the University of Vienna.
In 1938 he came to the United States and became a naturalized citizen in 1945. He originally concentrated on soviet economic history and economics. Examining the swift movement of indices of industrial growth in Russia, he discovered the ‘Gerschenkron effect’, whereby the choice of a base year for such indices influences their subsequent progress. Among his many other breakthroughs was his account of how the more backward countries of nineteenth-century Europe were able to develop at much greater speed than the earlier industrial countries. Association, Austrian Institute, Institution Business Cycle Research, Vienna. From 1948 he was a professor at Harvard University.
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Member Royal Swedish Academy Sciences, American Statistical Association, American History Association, American Philosophical Society, American Economics Association (Distinguished fellow), Economics History Association (president 1966-1968), Economics History Society, Phi Beta Kappa (honorary).
In 1928 he married Erica Matschnigg. They had two children: Helga-Susanna, Maria-Renate.