Tibor Scitovsky

Tibor de Scitovsky, also known as Tibor Scitovsky (November 3, 1910 – June 1, 2002), was a Hungarian born, American economist who was best known for his writing on the nature of people's happiness in relation to consumption.

Scitovsky was born in Hungary in 1910.

As the de indicates, he was born into a noble family; his father, Tibor Scitovszky, held the post of Foreign Minister.

He was educated at the Pázmány Péter University (from which he held an undergraduate degree in law), University of Cambridge, and the London School of Economics.

He came to the United States on a traveling fellowship.

He enlisted in the United States Army during World War II, in counter-intelligence.

Because he still had family in German-allied Hungary he changed his name during this time to Thomas Dennis.

He was associate professor and professor of economics at Stanford University from 1946 through 1958 and Eberle Professor of Economics from 1970 until his retirement in 1976, when he became Professor Emeritus.

In honor of his deep contributions to economic analysis, he was elected Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, Fellow of the Royal Economic Society, member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy.

After a spell at Stanford from 1946–1958, he left for Berkeley and remained there until 1968, although he was on leave to do research at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Starting as early as 1959, he began an examination of the nature of human well-being from a broader viewpoint than is customary among economists.

Scitovsky married and later divorced health economist Anne A. Scitovsky.