Abstract

Born at Prilly, Switzerland, 1874; died at Versailles, 1955. Professor at Montpellier (1899–1912) and Paris (1913–33), Rist was the most notable and influential thinker and actor in the field of money in France in the first half of the 20th century. As a member of the Comité des experts (1926) and as a vice-governor of the Bank of France (1926–8), he took an active part in monetary reconstruction in the 1920s. He supported the novel idea of stabilization with devaluation (1926–8). He was also involved as an expert in monetary reforms in Romania (1928), Austria, Turkey and Spain. He was France’s delegate at the London Economic Conference (1933).