Leonid Kantorovich

Leonid Kantorovich
Leonid Kantorovich in 1975
Born	(1912-01-19)19 January 1912 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died	7 April 1986(1986-04-07) (aged 74) Moscow, Russia, USSR
Nationality	Soviet
Fields	Mathematics
Alma mater	Leningrad State University
Doctoral advisor	Grigorii Fichtenholz Vladimir Smirnov
Known for	Linear programming Kantorovich theorem normed vector lattice (Kantorovich space) Kantorovich metric Kantorovich inequality approximation theory iterative methods functional analysis numerical analysis scientific computing
Notable awards	Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (1975)

Leonid Vitaliyevich Kantorovich (Russian: Леони́д Вита́льевич Канторо́вич; IPA: [lʲɪɐˈnʲit vʲɪˈtalʲɪvʲɪtɕ kəntɐˈrovʲɪtɕ]) (19 January 1912 – 7 April 1986) was a Soviet mathematician and economist, known for his theory and development of techniques for the optimal allocation of resources. He is regarded as the founder of linear programming. He was the winner of the Stalin Prize in 1949 and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 1975.

Kantorovich was born on 19 January 1912, to a Russian Jewish family. His father was a doctor practicing in Saint Petersburg. In 1926, at the age of fourteen, he began his studies at the Leningrad University. He graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics in 1930, and began his graduate studies. In 1934, at the age of 22 years, he became a full professor.

Later, 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 advanced by George Dantzig. He authored several books including The Mathematical Method of Production Planning and Organization and The Best Uses of Economic Resources. For his work, Kantorovich was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1949.