Leonid Hurwicz: Intelligent Designer

Washington state-based writer Michael Hurwicz has long been fascinated by his father's journey as a Polish Jew from 1930s Warsaw to America and ultimately a Nobel Prize in Economics. Michael's book reflects deep archival research as well as conversations with his father, immediate and extended family, friends, students, and colleagues.

Washington state-based writer Michael Hurwicz has long been fascinated by his father's journey as a Polish Jew from 1930s Warsaw to America and ultimately a Nobel Prize in Economics. Michael's book reflects deep archival research as well as conversations with his father, immediate and extended family, friends, students, and colleagues.

“Hurwicz tells the story of a remarkable man. A man, who received a Nobel Prize in Economics at age 90, who was married to the same woman, Evelyn, from age 27 until his death, who was the father of four children, who was an excellent pianist with a repertoire that reached from Beethoven to folk songs, an inspired — and inspiring — teller of bed-time stories, a life-long learner and knower of, almost, everything, an active citizen, and, yes, did I mention the Nobel Prize in Economics at age 90?

And Leo Hurwicz achieved all of this in spite of — or should we say, because of — the times of existential peril through which he and his extended family lived. … It is a context of revolutions, wars, antisemitism, persecution, and genocide. But it is also a context of resistance, persistence, ingenuity, courage, and creativity, of humanity in the face of barbarism.”

— Jens Kruse, The Orcasonian

“Michael Hurwicz gives us a unique attempt to clarify, for all those who knew Leo Hurwicz, the complex history of his family. Many of us who knew Leo had only a fragmentary understanding of this story. Michael tells it with loving care. He then proceeds to interweave ideas from Leo's work and to show, with tenderness, aspects of Leo as a father. A remarkable achievement.”

— Thomas Marschak, University of California, Berkeley, CA

“Kudos to Michael Hurwicz, who has written a paean to his late father, Leo Hurwicz, an extraordinary economist, teacher, polymath, and polyglot, whose genial personality and sense of humor endeared him to many in the profession. Especially for those of us who primarily knew Leo in an academic context, this book provides the background story of his life and times. It is meticulously researched and well-written.”

— Samiran Banerjee, Teaching Professor of Economics at Emory University and editor of The Collected Papers of Leonid Hurwicz: Volume 1

“Before he became an economist, Leo Hurwicz led a dramatic life worthy of a Hollywood movie. Michael Hurwicz tells this story with verve, and also succeeds in explaining to a lay readership the deep contributions his father made to economic science. Terrific reading.”

— Eric Maskin, Nobel laureate in Economics, Harvard University

“Some of the most interesting chapters in the book are those that offer a wealth of family and biographical information. The book is not simply a factual biography but seeks to develop a theme that is made clear from the beginning: wars and economic depressions shaped Hurwicz's outlook on the world and molded his economics. The tone is overall enthusiastic, and historians of economics should see this biography as an invitation to further inquire into Hurwicz's contributions.”

—Vincent Carret, History of Political Economy

“A fascinating, exciting story.”

— Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind