I was born in the city of New York on August 23, 1921. My undergraduate education, at the City College in New York, was made possible only by the existence of that excellent free institution and the financial sacrifices of my parents. I was graduated in 1940 with a degree of Bachelor of Science...

Lecture to the memory of Alfred Nobel, December 12, 1972

Lecture to the memory of Alfred Nobel, December 11, 1970

"In this age of specialization, I sometimes think of myself as the last 'generalist' in economics," wrote Paul Anthony Samuelson, Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "with interests that range from mathematical economics down to current financial journalism. My...

Lecture to the memory of Alfred Nobel, April 27, 1973

Lecture to the memory of Alfred Nobel, December 8, 1983

I was born in 1921 in Calais, France, the son of Camille Debreu and Fernande (née Decharne) Debreu. My father was the business partner of my maternal grandfather in lace manufacturing, a traditional industry in Calais. My paternal grandfather managed, until his retirement, the printing plant he...

I was born in 1904 at Warwick, England, where my father was a journalist on a local newspaper. I was educated at Clifton College (1917-22) and at Balliol College, Oxford (1922-26), an expensive education financed by mathematical scholarships. Thus, during my school days, and in my first year at...

Nobel Prize Lecture

I was born during the second World War in Montclair New Jersey. This was more or less an accident (the location that is). My father was based in Ottawa as a member of the War Time Prices and Trades Board, the Canadian version of wartime price controls. That work entailed frequent trips to...