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

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CHAPTER VI ~o~ont~ bt~exico IN NEW YORK, the winter of 1941, we met Senor Montes de Dca, former secretary of the treasury of Mexico and at that time president of Mexico's Banco Internationale. Though he was of small stature, he was a great man, and he bore himself as such. He had an all-encompassing knowledge of politics, economics, and world affairs, spoke four languages fluently, was widely read, and knew everything Lu had ever written. He immediately invited Lu and me to come to Mexico for a series of lectuI1es at the university, which he would sponsor. He offered Lu a lifetime position, a house with garden, a car and chauffeur, and a tremendously high salary if Lu would accept his proposition. But Lu refused. He was happy to come as a guest, but he remained firm in his decision to make his home in the United States. About this time Gitta had come to the United States, but she did not stay long with us. An agency in Chicago had heard about her adventures in occupied France and engaged her for a lecture tour through the United States. When she came back from the tour, she enlisted with the UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency) and went overseas, back to Vienna. There she soon married Don Honeyman, an American photographer on Vogue magazine. They were married in Vienna, in the same church and by the same clergyman who had baptized Gitta, but neither Lu nor I could be present. After a few years in Paris and in America, they settled in London, and she took up writing as a career. Today Gitta Sereny is a recognized journalist, having written for many years for the London Sunday Telegraph Magazine and authored three books. Lu was very fond of Gitta. Her ambition, her energy, her diligence, her unfailing courage to overcome the most difficult situa- 75
tions, her love and care for her husband and her two children commanded his respect. Our trip to Mexico was set for January, 1942. America was at war. We had our first papers, but we were not yet citizens. However, 'we had no difficulties getting the necessary visas, for our Mexican friend had taken care of everything. We left on January 11. It was our first flight since leaving Europe, and the first of our numerous visits in Central and South America. This flight still lingers in my memory, as does the whole trip to Mexico, becausethough we traveled in greatest comfort (we had a sleeper)-it took over twenty hours to reach Mexico City. Our reception at the airport almost befitted royalty. If, suddenly, band music had started, I would not have been surprised. A deputation of university professors was waiting for Lu. The customs formalities were quickly dealt with. The airport seemed near the city which-at 3 P.M.-was very crowded. Our hotel was on the Calle Madero, one of the liveliest streets in Mexico. O-ur suite-my room-was so full of roses, gardenias, and white callas I thought I was back on the stage. The subsequent seven weeks (we stayed in Mexico until February 25) were perhaps the greatest surprise of my life. Not only because Lu, for the first time since we had left Europe, got the recognition he deserved, but because the high intellectual standard of the Mexican elite, whom we had the privilege of meeting during our stay, was absolutely overwhelming to me. Most interesting to me was the life in the streets. The population of Mexico's capital was mixed: Indians and mestizos (persons of mixed blood) were predominant. People seemed to be very poor, but it was more astonishing to see almost no well-dressed people in the streets. They must prefer to get around by car, I thought. The shops-at first sight-seemed provincial to me. Only the boutiques for art, silver, and jewelry were beautiful. Never in my life had I seen so many poor people as in Mexico. People in rags, with naked, dirty feet, unwashed, it seemed, for months. The women were usually pregnant or carried small children in their rebozos. They wore their hair in long black braids, with colored ribbons folded into the plaits. Women and children either sold candies-not very attractive to our eyes-or lottery tickets, which were eagerly bought. It was the old story: the poorer the population, the more they gamble. At every street corner they sold lemonade, which was necessary since the water was only drinkable if distilled or boiled. Tortillas, the chief nourishment of the poor, a sort of pancake made of cornflour and water, were also sold in the streets. I was impressed by the great number of blind people, caused, I 76
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~T~ -with ~"chrig VO~~C~
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Copyright © 1976 by Margit von Mis
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THIS BOOK will hardly answer any qu
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~T~ Jritb ~"dwig voq,~ecJ
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I did not know my maternal grandfat
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mann was interested. He used to cal
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were Fritz Kortner (King Philip), w
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again with Moissi as a guest. But o
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CHAPTER II IT WAS in autumn 1925, w
Page 24 and 25: him with great affection, even thou
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Page 28 and 29: tried their best to get his attenti
Page 30 and 31: succeeded in laying the groundwork
Page 32 and 33: One day Lu told me he had been offe
Page 34 and 35: International Studies) in Geneva, S
Page 36 and 37: When the Germans marched into Vienn
Page 38: often beaten to death. Schuschnigg
Page 41 and 42: apartment was small, just large eno
Page 43 and 44: face almost emotionless. I wore a r
Page 45 and 46: crossword puzzle that one cannot so
Page 47 and 48: order into France to shop for their
Page 49 and 50: ight where you are." In this case,
Page 51 and 52: the top of Mount Saleve, the so-cal
Page 53 and 54: sation. Friends met at private hous
Page 55 and 56: where they took X rays and confirme
Page 57 and 58: other American universities. I trus
Page 59 and 60: today? We tried-and were sent back.
Page 61 and 62: house where I lived, when suddenly
Page 63 and 64: good friends from the institute in
Page 65 and 66: interest in getting Lu established
Page 67 and 68: versity of Buffalo, also came to se
Page 69 and 70: steady flow of visitors from out of
Page 71 and 72: Germany at the time of the installa
Page 73 and 74: a store for postcards and knick-kna
Page 78 and 79: was told, by the lack of silver nit
Page 80 and 81: time we were wrong. We arrived at 2
Page 82 and 83: uilt completely of stone. The dinin
Page 84: e~ghty men sitting at long tables.
Page 87 and 88: His manual dexterity was zero. But
Page 89 and 90: unimportant. More important was .th
Page 91 and 92: ian Paul Mantoux, was the most dist
Page 93 and 94: called, for dinner at the Plaza. Th
Page 95 and 96: States. We are today practically a
Page 97 and 98: impression Lu had on this trip was
Page 99 and 100: It was a touch of genius combined w
Page 101 and 102: especially tense while driving. As
Page 104 and 105: CHAPTER'VIII I SHOULD know Human Ac
Page 106 and 107: Davidson wrote to Lu: "Both George
Page 108 and 109: In regard to your request about von
Page 110 and 111: Human Action. We are delighted that
Page 112 and 113: graphs are transposed. On page 615
Page 114 and 115: are clumsy, inept, inefficient and
Page 116 and 117: Myself at fourteen. Here I am in 19
Page 118 and 119: Doing military service in Vienna, A
Page 120 and 121: Lu without his books! Lu at the whe
Page 122 and 123: At the home of Sylvester Petro: Pro
Page 124 and 125: Fritz Machlup and Lu at the celebra
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Henry Hazlitt and Lu during one of
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My daughter, Gitta, myself, and Lu
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Fall 1964. PHOTO BY DAVID L. JARRET
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Our last picture together, December
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CHAPTER IX ~"~~O~ ~enJbutr Lv's SEM
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He himself was completely absorbed.
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Percy Greaves first came to the sem
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He was working with the Air Force o
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years, when the seminar was held at
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I finally had to ask the help of hi
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don't want you to talk to him," he
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published in.the Financial and Comm
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morning with the view of the Austri
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asked him what part he played in Ma
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ever mentioned, in dealing with the
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work on the whole subject of direct
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Action, I read every other book of
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oken up. I had suggested to Benegas
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with his family. In 1964 he founded
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the walls of economic principle, th
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How much this award reveals about t
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CHAPTER XI Our~a§t ~al78Toget4er O
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his vacation. But when he did, I wo
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paper last, and it gave Lu an oppor
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nnished the session with a short ta
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old acquaintance and as his most ho
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he said to me: "The only goodthing
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of the National Federation of Indep
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Central-European currencies know ho
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Tribute to Ludwig von Mises byF. A.
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war and his being called up for act
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had occurred in Professor Mises' li
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