Remembering Kalecki: 22/05/1899–18/04/1970

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this memoir article, I reminisce on the life of Michał Kalecki, a distinguished scholar, self-taught economist, strong intellectual, loving husband and a rigorous teacher. Kalecki is often portraited as being rather timid and modest in personal relations. Nonetheless, he was a bright and self-confident speaker when presenting his own ideas and challenging those of others. I first met Kalecki in 1963 when I was a graduate student of economics at the Main School of Planning and Statistics (today known as the Warsaw School of Economics). At that time, Kalecki was an undisputable intellectual leader and the economic guru for many young economists, myself included. However, in 1968, due to political pressures and the rising antisemitism in Poland, Kalecki resigned from his professorship at the Main School. A few months after his death, in 1970, with no prospects of doing economic research in Poland, I decided to move to England. Joan Robinson helped me get a guest-fellowship in Clare Hall, Cambridge, where I spent the next two years. Eventually, with the help and invaluable support from Ada Kalecka, Tadeusz Kowalik and Włodzimierz Brus, I became the editor of Kalecki’s Collected Works.