My Years with Ludwig von Mises.pdf - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

order into France to shop for their mother. I had never seen so
many bicycles before. At lunchtime, when the people went home
from offices, shops and schools, hordes of bicycle riders were moving
over the bridges and around the lake. Lovers would often ride
together, the boy holding his arm around the shoulder of the girl, a
terror to the motorists. Driving was more dangerous in Geneva
than it is at the rush hour in New York.
Besides Professors Rappard, Kelsen, and Roepke there were
other famous scholars teaching at the institute: Professor Paul
Mantoux, codirector of the institute, whose son, Etienne, was Lu's
special favorite. Then there were Professors Louis Baudin, Guglielmo
Ferrero, and Pitman Potter. Most of these scholars seemed
to me, a newcomer and complete stranger, like the gods in Greek
mythology, distant, remote, and impenetrable. In retrospect, I am
sure I was completely wrong. I simply looked upon them with the
same awe that students, who did not know him, looked upon Lu. I
was wrong, because like all human beings, these men had ·gone
through suffering, all of them had their share of personal
disappointments.
Professor Ferrero, the famous historian and author, was very
tall, with a tiny goatee, always impeccably dressed in a dark gray
or black suit. He had not only lost his country when Mussolini
came to power; he had also lost his only son. Neither he nor his
wife would ever smile again.
Then there was Professor Maurice Bourquin, who was head of
the International Department of Law at the University of Geneva
and who taught diplomatic history at the institute. His marital
difficulties were known to everyone at the institute, but they were
discretely concealed until he and his beautiful, elegant wife were
finally reconciled.
Two weeks after Lu and I were married, we invited the students
in Lu's summer course for tea. Therewere many young Americans
among them. I remember one of them was the niece of Christopher
Morley. It was a gay afternoon, and the windows were opened to
let the warm summer breeze flow through the rooms. When the
lights were turned on, all the young... people were still with us.
Some neighbors called up to complain about the noise. In the four
years he had lived in his apartment, that had never before happened
to Professor von Mises. I was amused about it, but I knew I
had to be more careful in the future.
In spite of the gay parties, the.atmosphere in Geneva was becoming
more gloomy. Every night we listened to the radio and followed
the political events in Germany. Austria had been swallowed
up, and i Hitler made no secret of his intentions toward
Czechoslovakia. I got letters from people all over the world asking
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