Gustavo Del Vecchio was an Italian

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

Early life

Gustavo Del Vecchio was born in

Lugo Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous community of Galicia. It is the capital of the province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 98,025 in 2018, making it the fourth most populous city in Gal ...

on 22 June 1883 in the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and ...

. His family were members of the Jewish community of Lugo. On 21 June 1887, when Del Vecchio was three years old, his father, Cesare, was murdered by another employee at his company.Sante Medri, ''Gustavo Del Vecchio. Dalla vicenda umana alla Scienza economica'', in « Studi Romagnoli », Anno LVII, 2006, . His mother, Beatrice Cavalieri, decided to move to

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

with her children. Gustavo attended school there from primary to high school..

Career

In 1900, he enrolled in the Faculty of Law in Rome's Sapienze University. One of his first teachers was

Arturo Labriola Arturo Labriola (; 21 January 1873 – 23 June 1959) was an Italian revolutionary syndicalist and socialist politician and journalist. Biography Early political activity (until 1897) Labriola was born in Naples on 21 January 1873 to Luigi La ...

, a professor of philosophy and history. The next year, Del Vecchio came back to Bologna where he continued his law studies at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...

. One of the people he studied with was economist Tullio Martello, who is well known for his participation in the

Expedition of the Thousand The Expedition of the Thousand ( it, Spedizione dei Mille) was an event of the Italian Risorgimento that took place in 1860. A corps of volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi sailed from Quarto, near Genoa (now Quarto dei Mille) and landed in M ...

. In 1904, at 21 years old, Del Vecchio graduated with a thesis on monopolies. He went on to complete his studies in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and the

Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (german: link=no, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public university, public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established ...

. Del Vecchio served as a volunteer during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

. After the war ended, he took up teaching economics at the Higher Institute of Economics and Business in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into pr ...

from 1920 to 1926, moved on to the

in 1926 and then at

Bocconi University Bocconi University ( it, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, ) is a private university in Milan, Italy. Bocconi provides education in the fields of economics, finance, law, management, political science, public administration and comput ...

of Milan in 1930. Gustavo Del Vecchio issued several publications on his research. In 1909, he began working for an academic journal named ''Giornale degli economisti e Annali di economia''. His research on money and credit was published as ' (1932). He was one of the contributors of the Fascist political and finance magazine ''

Lo Stato ''Lo Stato'' (Italian: ''The State'') was a monthly political and finance magazine which existed in the Fascist Italy between 1930 and 1943. Its subtitle was ''Rivista di scienze politiche e giuridiche''. History and profile ''Lo Stato'' was sta ...

'' from 1930 and served as editors for ''

Econometrica ''Econometrica'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of economics, publishing articles in many areas of economics, especially econometrics. It is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Econometric Society. The current editor-in-chief A ...

'', ''Economia'', ''Beiträge zur Ökonomischen Theorie'', ''Economia Internazionale'', and ''Rivista bancaria.'' Up until 1933, he managed to avoid joining the

Italian Fascist Party The National Fascist Party ( it, Partito Nazionale Fascista, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian Fascism and as a reorganization of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The ...

, which made membership mandatory for Italian professors. In 1934, he became rector for Bocconi University. On 18 September 1938 the Fascist regime of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...

proclaimed the

racial laws Anti-Jewish laws have been a common occurrence throughout Jewish history. Examples of such laws include special Jewish quotas, Jewish taxes and Jewish "disabilities". Some were adopted in the 1930s and 1940s in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy and ...

. Del Vecchio, who was Jewish, was promptly kicked out of his offices. Forced to abandon teaching, he immigrated in 1943 to Switzerland. He remained there until the fall of Italy in 1945 when he returned to his office in Bologna. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Gustavo Del Vecchio became involved in government decisions, primarily on economic matters. He served as advisor to

Meuccio Ruini Meuccio Ruini (14 December 1877 – 6 March 1970) was an Italian jurist and socialist politician who served as the president of the Italian Senate and the minister of the colonies. Biography After graduating in law from the University of Bologna, ...

, a Minister of Reconstruction of Liberated lands under the Parri cabinet (June–December 1945). He opposed the concept of a global

wealth tax A wealth tax (also called a capital tax or equity tax) is a tax on an entity's holdings of assets. This includes the total value of personal assets, including cash, bank deposits, real estate, assets in insurance and pension plans, ownershi ...

. In 1947, he served as

Minister of the Treasury A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Eco ...

for De Gasperi's fourth cabinet (31 May 1947 - 23 May 1948). He was the

interim An interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities. Interim may also refer to: Temporary organizational arrangements (general concept) *Provis ...

Minister of Budget after

Luigi Einaudi Luigi Numa Lorenzo Einaudi (; 24 March 1874 – 30 October 1961) was an Italian politician and economist. He served as the president of Italy from 1948 to 1955. Early life Einaudi was born to Lorenzo and Placida Fracchia in Carrù, in the pro ...

was elected president. Del Vecchio worked to stabilize the

lira Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current currency of Turkey and also the local name of the currencies of Lebanon and of Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, including those of Italy, Malta and Israe ...

and halt inflation, and in August 1947, he became president of the Interministerial Committee on Credit and Savings. In 1948, he received the chairs of finance and financial law from La Sapienza in Rome, which he occupied until 1958. From 1948 to 1950, he held the post of a governor of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster gl ...

, and from 1958, he was a member of the National Council for the Economy and Labour. Gustavo Del Vecchio died in Rome on 6 September 1972, at the age of 89.

Notable pupils

Federico Caffè Federico Caffè (born 6 January 1914; disappeared 15 April 1987; declared dead 30 October 1998) was a notable Italian economist from the Keynesian School. Early life Caffè graduated in Business Sciences from the University of Rome La Sapienz ...

Publications

* (it) ''Lineamenti generali della teoria dell'interesse'', Rome, Athenaeum, 1915. * (de) ''Grundlinien der Geldtheorie'', Tübingen, Mohr, 1930. * (it) ''Capitale e interesse'', Turin, Einaudi, 1956. * (it) ''Economia generale'', Turin, UTET, 1961.

References

Bibliography

* Federico Caffè, ''Antologia di scritti di Gustavo del Vecchio nel centenario della nascita'', Milan, Franco Angeli, 1983. (in Italian) * ''Gustavo Del Vecchio'' in AA. VV., Biografie e bibliografie degli Accademici Lincei, Rome, Acc. dei Lincei, 1976, . (in Italian) * Gianfranco Tusset, ''Money as Organization, Gustavo Del Vecchio's Theory'', Londres, Pickering & Chatto, 2014. * Alberto Zanni, Gustavo Del Vecchio, ''Teoria e storia di un mediatore di cultura'' in « Revue Internationale d'Histoire de la Banque », nn. 26–27, 1983, . (in Italian)

External links

{{Authority control University of Bologna faculty Bocconi University faculty Sapienza University of Rome faculty Sapienza University of Rome alumni University of Bologna alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Italian economists 1883 births 1976 deaths Jewish Italian politicians People from Lugo, Emilia-Romagna Kingdom of Italy people Italian emigrants to Switzerland International Monetary Fund people 20th-century Italian politicians Giornale degli economisti e annali di economia editors