Early women Economists in/from the German speaking countries

In 2000 Edward Elgar published a Dictionary of Women Economists (edited by Robert Dimand, Mary Ann Dimand and Evelyn L. Forget). Several economists connected to the German speaking countries (through birth, studies at the Universities or professional activities) were included in this edition, many of whom had emigrated after 1933 and some who had lost their lives in the Holocaust ( Käthe Bauer-Mengelberg, Hilde Behrend, Cora Berliner, Martha Stephanie Browne (née Hermann), Marie Dessauer-Meinhardt, Käthe Leichter, Charlotte Leubuscher, Helene Lieser, Gertrud von Lovasy, Rosa Luxemburg, Ilse Schüller Mintz, Cläre Tisch, Frieda Wunderlich).

In view of an extension of the Dictionary in a later edition we started researching women economists from the German speaking countries. We selected women from a fairly large sample following the guidelines as sketched by the editors of the Dictionary of Women Economists in their “Introduction” (2000, xvi). All women included in our Table of Early women Economists (PDF) are dead. They either made substantive contributions to the field (as it was seen at their time) or were historically important (as being “first” in some sense or context). Some additional comments on the selection follow.

For an easy overview the women are grouped in “generations” – where the borders drawn might seem somewhat arbitrarily. For the “younger” generations the details on different types of university positions held are mainly listed in German, as they give some indication on status and pay. Furthermore, information on the type of research (degree thesis, publication) is included in the Table of Early women Economists (PDF).