Eric Roll

Eric Roll, Baron Roll of Ipsden KCMG CB (1 December 1907 – 30 March 2005) was an academic economist, public servant and banker. He was made a life peer in 1977.

Roll was born as Erich Roll in the then-Austro-Hungarian Empire and grew up near Czernowitz in Bukovina, which became part of Romania and is now part of Ukraine.

His father was a bank manager, and his mother's brother was a distinguished member of the law faculty at the University of Vienna. When World War I saw Russian troops burn down the village, his family took refuge in Vienna. His parents then sent him to England in the 1920s and he studied at Birmingham University. Shortly afterwards, he completed his PhD and published his first book. He mixed with artistic and creative circles.

By the age of 28, Roll became Professor of Economics and Commerce at University College, Hull, appointed with the backing of John Maynard Keynes and Lord Stamp. Perhaps his most enduring work from this time was the publication in 1938 of his book A History of Economic Thought, which subsequently went through several editions. During World War II, however, he was recruited to the civil service as deputy head of the British Food Mission (1941–1946), where he was principally involved in the procurement of food supplies - most notably dried eggs. He made a number of contacts in the United States and rejected the offer to head the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, instead joining the British Ministry of Food. His economic experience and contacts made him invaluable in the post-war government and he was the British representative in the Paris discussions on Marshall aid. He played an important role in the setting up of European and trans-Atlantic institutions before rejoining the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

...
Wikipedia