Evgeni Georgiev Mateev (Bulgarian: Евгени Георгиев Матеев; 1 April 1920 – 4 June 1994) was a Bulgarian Marxist economist, academic and politician.

Biography

Mateev was born in the family of a railway official. He graduated from the Sofia Theological Seminary in 1939 and the

Sofia University Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" () is a public university, public research university in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Bulgaria. Founded on 1 October 1888, the edifice of the university was constr ...

in 1943 from the Faculty of Law. Since 1939 he has been a member of the Workers' Youth League and became a participant in the underground communist movement. After the September 1944 coup d'état, Mateev began working as a journalist and soon entered the government of Bulgaria. He was chairman of the State Planning Commission in 1952, a minister in 1963–1966, a member of the State Council of the People's Republic in 1974–1981 . From 1953 to 1959 he served as chairman of the Central Statistical Bureau, from 1962 to 1966 he was a member of the Central Committee of the

Bulgarian Communist Party The Bulgarian Communist Party ( Bulgarian: Българска комунистическа партия (БΚП), Romanised: ''Bŭlgarska komunisticheska partiya''; BKP) was the founding and ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria f ...

. From 1964 to 1972 he was chairman of the Presidium of the Higher Attestation Commission under the Ministerial Council. From 1972 to 1981 Mateev Chairman of the council for the reproduction of material resources under the State Council. From 1968 to 1971 he was Chairman of the

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE or UNECE) is an intergovernmental organization or a specialized body of the United Nations. The UNECE is one of five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Econom ...

. In 1950, Mateev received the title of professor, and in 1967 an academician of the

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (abbreviated BAS; , ''Bŭlgarska akademiya na naukite'', abbreviated БАН) is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869. The Academy, with headquarters in Sofia, is autonomous and consists of a S ...

. He became an academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union in 1976, after the collapse of the USSR he retained this post already in the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

. He was elected as a deputy to the 4th and 7th People's Assemblies of Bulgaria. UNWE3

Mateev died on 4 June 1994, after a long illness. In his honor, an auditorium in the University of National and World Economy bears his name.

Works

In his economic views, Mateev was a prominent opponent of the

Austrian school of economics The Austrian school is a heterodox school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result primarily from the motivations and actions of individuals along with their ...

, also of the ideas and reforms in the spirit of so-called

market socialism Market socialism is a type of economic system involving social ownership of the means of production within the framework of a market economy. Various models for such a system exist, usually involving cooperative enterprises and sometimes a mix ...

. According to him, the proponents of market socialism offer in practice a return to "idealized capitalism, and that of the age of free competition."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mateev, Evgeni 1920 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Bulgarian economists Sofia University alumni Academic staff of Sofia University Bulgarian Communist Party politicians Marxian economists Members of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences