Leonid Kantorovich

Leonid Vitaliyevich Kantorovich (Russian: Леонид Витальевич Канторович) (19 January 1912, Saint Petersburg – 7 April 1986, Moscow) was a Soviet/Russian mathematician and economist, known for his theory and development of techniques for the optimal allocation of resources. He was the winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1975 and the only winner of this prize from the USSR. Kantorovich worked for the Soviet government. He was given the task of... more

Leonid Vitaliyevich Kantorovich (Russian: Леонид Витальевич Канторович) (19 January 1912, Saint Petersburg – 7 April 1986, Moscow) was a Soviet/Russian mathematician and economist, known for his theory and development of techniques for the optimal allocation of resources. He was the winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1975 and the only winner of this prize from the USSR. Kantorovich worked for the Soviet government. He was given the task of optimizing production in a plywood industry. He came up (1939) with the mathematical technique now known as linear programming, some years before it was reinvented and much advanced by George Dantzig. He authored several books including The Mathematical Method of Production Planning and Organization and The Best Uses of Economic Resources. During the Siege of Leningrad, Kantorovich was in charge of safety on the Road of Life. He calculated the optimal distance between cars on ice, depending on thickness of ice and temperature of the air. In... less