MEMORANDUM

Alpers takes to be the Leontief firm. Wassily Wassilievich discussed in the dissertation the
strike action in 1896 without bringing himself into the story. From his dissertation topic
Leontief Sr. could be denoted as a labor economist, his special interest was the conditions
of the laboring class. But he seemed to have quite comprehensive knowledge of Russian
economy and history as well. One may read out of his dissertation a political message
expressing belief in what the trade unions can achieve in terms of social and political
reform. The dissertation was at its final stage during the political turbulence in Russian
known as the 1905 revolution. The revolution comprised bloody suppression but also
opened up possibilities for political reform, which in the end were thwarted.
His granddaughter, Svetlana Alpers, has scrutinized the dissertation and characterized
it as “neither historical nor analytic, but rather a journalistic affair.” 16 The characterization
suggests that Leontief Sr.’s dissertation was not a particularly impressive one, perhaps
reflecting to some extent that he had conducted a minimal amount of university studies
before he embarked on the doctoral dissertation. But even so, its descriptive approach
may not have implied that it was of a lower scholarly quality than many others. Leontief Sr.
The doctoral advisor of Leontief Sr. in Munich, Lujo Brentano, was a scholar of great
credentials; he was an economist adhering to the German historical school with strong
interests in social reform, a true Kathedersozialist.
Childhood and formative years
When the Leontief couple were on their own again and the situation in Russia had
calmed down they made preparations for returning to St. Petersburg as soon all formalities
of the doctoral degree had been completed, which was not until July 1906. The
preparations comprised Zlata’s conversion to Orthodoxy which eventually took place on 2
August 1906. Zlata became Genia; her full Russified new name was Evgeniia Borisovna.
Two days later followed marriage in the Greek Orthodox Church in Munich. The
motivation for the conversion and re-marriage was, we may presume, the religious
conviction of Leontief Sr. but perhaps more important as reverence for the Leontief family
who had been supportive of Leontief Sr. throughout his years abroad and to whom he
intended to return with his wife and son.
The Leontief couple returned from Munich to St. Petersburg in mid-August 1906.
Little Wassily was just over one year old. At the return, Wassily was baptized and entered
into the birth register of the Russian Orthodox Church as born on 5 August 1906 in St.
Petersburg. The doubly incorrect birth data became the official birth place and date.
Throughout Leontief’s life in Russia from one to nineteen years of age he (and his parents)
lived with this odd fact of being one year older than officially recorded. Leontief’s
16 Alpers (2013, pp.17-18).
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