# Friedrich Hayek

By [iamHayek](https://paragraph.com/@iamhayek) · 2022-01-21

---

**Friedrich August von Hayek** [CH](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Companion_of_Honour) [FBA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fellow_of_the_British_Academy) ([/ˈhaɪək/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [_HY-ək_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key), German: [\[ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈʔaʊɡʊst fɔn ˈhaɪɛk\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Standard_German) ([listen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Yandexhayek.wav)); 8 May 1899 – 23 March 1992), often referred to by his initials **F. A. Hayek**, was an Austrian-British [economist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economist), and [philosopher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopher) who is best known for his defence of [classical liberalism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_liberalism).[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek#cite_note-1) Hayek shared the 1974 [Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Memorial_Prize_in_Economic_Sciences) with [Gunnar Myrdal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunnar_Myrdal) for their work on money and economic fluctuations, and the interdependence of economic, social and institutional phenomena.[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek#cite_note-:2-2) His account of how [changing prices communicate information](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_signal) that helps individuals coordinate their plans is widely regarded as an important achievement in [economics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics), leading to his prize.[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek#cite_note-3)[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek#cite_note-4)[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek#cite_note-5)

Hayek served in [World War I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I) during his teenage years and said that this experience in the war and his desire to help avoid the mistakes that had led to the war drew him into economics.[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek#cite_note-:0-6)[\[7\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek#cite_note-7) At the [University of Vienna](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Vienna), he studied economics, eventually receiving his doctoral degrees in law in 1921 and in political science in 1923.[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek#cite_note-:0-6)[\[8\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek#cite_note-8) He subsequently lived and worked in Austria, Great Britain, the United States, and Germany; he became a British subject in 1938.[\[9\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek#cite_note-:3-9) Hayek's academic life was mostly spent at the [London School of Economics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_School_of_Economics), and later at the [University of Chicago](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Chicago), and the [University of Freiburg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Freiburg). Although he is widely considered a leader of the [Austrian School of Economics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_School_of_Economics), he also had close connections with the [Chicago School of Economics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_School_of_Economics).[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek#cite_note-:0-6)[\[10\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek#cite_note-10)[\[11\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek#cite_note-11)[\[12\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek#cite_note-:4-12) Hayek was also a major social theorist and political philosopher of the 20th century and as the co-founder of [Mont Pelerin Society](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Pelerin_Society) he contributed to the revival of classical liberalism in the post-war era.[\[13\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek#cite_note-13) His most popular work, [_The Road to Serfdom_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Serfdom), has sold over 2.25 million copies (as of 2020).[\[14\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek#cite_note-14)[\[15\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek#cite_note-:1-15)

Hayek was appointed a [Co](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Companions_of_Honour)

---

*Originally published on [iamHayek](https://paragraph.com/@iamhayek/friedrich-hayek)*