My years with Ludwig von Mises by Margit von Mises, read by Amber Cathy. Acknowledgements
to the first edition. I want to thank the many friends who helped me, in however small
a way, to get the information I needed for writing this book, as well as those close
friends and members of my family who lived through the writing with me. I only wish I
could have mentioned all those who, in the course of the years, have been part of our
First, I want to thank Friedrich von Hayek, the most illustrious among my husband's many distinguished students, for his permission to print here a hitherto unpublished speech he gave in 1956 in my husband's honor.
My special gratitude goes to our very, very dear friends, Bertie and Larry Fertig, who advised, helped, and comforted me throughout these last difficult years.
My warmest thanks to Bettina Biangris, who generously provided me with any information I asked for, although she was herself busy on a book about my husband.
I am particularly grateful to Ruth I. Matthews and to Otto and Fanny Collier for their unfailing interest and steady encouragement.
Eugene Davidson's stimulating advice with regard to Chapter 8 was particularly valuable to me, and I have a special debt of gratitude to John Chamberlain for his enthusiastic reaction after reading several chapters of the manuscript.
My thanks also to Hans Senholtz for translating from the German the letters that appear on pages 165 and 166.
It was George Cotter who did the original editing of my book, and I am grateful to him for having kept his promise not to do any ghost writing, for this should be and is my own story.
George gave me the benefit of his great journalistic experience, his superb command of the language, and constant encouragement and enthusiasm.
When I once told him, George, you are doing so much for me, how can I accept it?
He replied, Margit, when your husband died, I told my wife, how can I ever thank this man for what he has done for my mind? This is my opportunity.
Preface to the second edition. A German version of my book, Ludwig von Mises, Der Mensch und sein Werk, Ludwig von Mises, The Man and His Work, was published in 1981 by Philosophia Verlag in Munich.
This second English edition has become necessary because the first one is completely sold out. The many letters I have received show a continuing demand for the book.
With permission of Professor Hayek, I include here the English translation of the letter he sent me after he read the first edition. My readers may be interested in the reaction of the most prominent student of my husband.
My dear Mrs. von Mises, When I returned the day before yesterday from a short trip to Germany and Switzerland, I found your book and letter. Though I actually had no time, a mountain of correspondence was waiting to be answered, I had to do some very important writing, and besides this, I have to make my preparations for moving to Freiburg.
But when I started reading your book, I could not resist and had to continue until I got
to the end. I must confess that I was somewhat apprehensive about this book. Books by widows
of famous men who were not collaborators of their husbands can be dangerous. But you did
a perfect job in relating what you, and only you, could say. You told a great deal completely
new to me, and even surprising. But in its totality, it fits the perception I had of
It fills existing gaps without conflicting with my conception and with the mental image I had formed of your husband.
I had, for example, no idea that you entered his life at such an early age.
One thing we students noticed, lightly smiling, and which was incomprehensible to us, was that the Old Man,
that's how we called him, for he was at that time almost twice as old as we were,
Even his love for the mountains we discovered only by chance when Makluff and I once made an excursion with him to the higher Austrian mountains, most probably somewhere in the Oster or Maria's Seiler environment.
On this occasion he hurt his hip when standing on the outside gallery of an alpine hut, which suddenly broke down so that he fell approximately two meters down to the ground.
We owe our thanks to you for having written this book. Thank you also for sending it to me. I would write more about it if I were not so pressed for time. But in those ten days that I was away, an unusually great amount of correspondence has accumulated. I am supposed to finish some urgent important writing, and before the end of the month I must be ready to move. The exact day has not yet been fixed, but by latest it will be March 1st. Our address again will be Freberg. Devotedly,
Professor Fritz Machlub suggested that I add another appendix to the book, containing impressions and memories of still-living former students who had attended the Vienna Seminar.
I followed his suggestion and, according to Philosophia Verlag, who published the book in German,
This is the first time that a comprehensive survey has become available about the activity of Ludwig von Mises, the great scholar of the Austrian School of Economics, and his legendary private seminar in Vienna.
My warmest thanks to Professor Machlup for his advice and contribution to the appendix, as well as to the other contributors.
Professor Martha Steffi Brown, Dr. Herbert Futh, Professor Gottfried von Habler, Dr. Rudolf Klein, and Professor Paul N. Rosenstein-Rodan.
Chapter 12 of this edition, Epilogue and the Centennial, is completely new and brings the book up to date.
My special thanks to Professors Israel Kirzner and Murray Rothbard and others who supplied information.
In preparing this enlarged edition, nothing has been changed in the description of my life with my husband,
though personal experiences since his death in 1973 may have changed my perception about some people mentioned in this book.
As time goes by, I am more and more grateful for the friendship of those who stayed by my side.
John and Ernestine Chamberlain, who so enthusiastically encouraged me, Richard Ebeling, who was always there when I needed him,
John and Marion Ekster, who helped not only with personal advice, but saw to it that I, with my obsession for work, would not forget that my life should be enjoyed once in a while.
I am deeply indebted to my close friend, Dr. Roxana Laibarsky, for the care, love and affection with which she helped me to survive one of the most critical times in my life.
My special gratitude belongs to my dear friend, Dr. Ruth I. Matthews, who not only read the manuscript of this edition, but made valuable suggestions and prepared part of the index.
In closing these lines, let me express once more my hope and wish that my husband's followers may become legion, and will put into practice his ideas for the betterment of the world.
I also hope that the readers of this book will not only admire Mises the scholar, but come to understand Mises the man.
If, through my work, I have contributed in a modest way to spread the words and teachings of Ludwig von Mises, I have achieved what I set out to do from the beginning.
New York, 1983, Margit von Mises