Paul Haensel, 1878 - 1949

Professor Paul Haensel was a prominent economist who authored several books on taxation and finance and taught at Northwestern University from 1930 to 1943. Haensel was born in Moscow on 8 February 1878 (N.S.). Graduating from the Moscow Practical Commercial Academy in 1896, he entered Moscow University, completing his course of studies in 1902 with a degree in law. Remaining at the University as a professor from 1903 to 1928, he published many works on taxation, including his master's thesis, Nalog s nasledstva (1906), as well as works on public finance, such as Istoriia finansov (1913) and Finansovaia reforma v Rossii (1916-1917). In addition to his teaching and research activities, he served as a member of the board of directors of the State Bank, 1915-1917, advisor to the Commissariat of Finance, and director of the financial section of the Institute of Economic Research in Moscow, 1921-1928.

Invited to lecture abroad in 1928, he opted to remain there, finding a position as professor of economics in 1930. He taught and wrote on Soviet as well as American and European economic issues, and testified before Congressional committees on tax reform in 1943. Following his retirement from Northwestern in that year, he continued to teach at Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia until 1948. Haensel died in Illinois on 28 February 1949.

Detailed processing and preservation microfilming for these materials were made possible by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and by matching funds from the Hoover Institution and Museum of Russian Culture. The grant also provides for depositing a microfilm copy in the Hoover Institution Archives. The original materials and copyright to them (with some exceptions) are the property of the Museum of Russian Culture, San Francisco.

Paul Haensel Register