Today, March 19, marks the 70th anniversary of Yegor Timurovich Gaidar’s birth — an outstanding economist, the founder and long-time director of our Institute, which bears his name.
name. Yegor Timurovich was instrumental in establishment of the Institute of Economic Policy in 1990. For nearly twenty years, even during his tenure in the Government and the State Duma, he led the Institute, setting high standards for academic research and objectivity. In 2010, in recognition of the scholar’s contributions and at the initiative of the staff, the Institute was named after E.T. Gaidar.
Yegor Timurovich’s academic career commenced upon his graduation from the Economics Department at Lomonosov Moscow State University, where he later defended his master’s thesis and subsequently his doctoral dissertation. His research, devoted to the problems of the transition from a planned to a market economy, hierarchical structures, and the economic history of Russia, formed the basis for fundamental works, including Collapse of an Empire, A Long View, Power and Property, among others. His extensive scholarly legacy, comprising over a hundred publications collected in 15-volume set of works, continues to serve as the foundation for contemporary research.
For us, the staff of the Gaidar Institute, this day offers an opportunity to reflect once again on his ideas and on his scholarly and personal legacy. Yegor Timurovich’s contribution to economic science and to the development of modern Russia remains invaluable, and his way of thinking and his steadfast commitment to his convictions serve as an example to everyone who works within these walls.