Bonné, Alfred Abraham

views updated

BONNÉ, ALFRED ABRAHAM

BONNÉ, ALFRED ABRAHAM (1899–1959), Israeli economist. Bonné, who was born in Nuremberg, Germany, and studied in Munich, settled in Palestine in 1925. From 1931 to 1936 he directed the Economic Archives for the Near East in Jerusalem. In 1943 he was appointed director of the Economic Research Institute of the Jewish Agency and a year later became professor of economics at the Hebrew University. Bonné was the first controller of foreign exchange of the State of Israel, and from 1955 until his death was dean of the Hebrew University's School of Economics and Social Sciences. Best known among his numerous publications are his studies on the economy of Palestine and Israel; social and economic development in the Middle East; and theoretical and empirical issues of growth in developing areas. Against the background of Jewish experience in Palestine, Bonné developed a theory of implanted development in underdeveloped countries, with particular tasks assigned to government undertakings carried out with the aid of foreign investment. His major publications include: Palaestina; Land und Wirtschaft (1932); Der neue Orient (1937); State and Economics in the Middle East; a Society in Transition (1948); and Studies in Economic Development (1957).

bibliography:

A Selected Bibliography of Books and Papers of the Late Prof A. Bonné (1960).

[Zvi Yehuda Hershlag]