Ignacy Sachs, the challenge of sustainable development

ABSTRACT Ignacy Sachs was a notable economist of the classical developmentalist school. Born in Poland, he studied economics in Brazil and after the war returned to his home country to work in the diplomatic service and pursue his PhD in economics at the University of Warsaw. He then studied with Michal Kalecki. In 1968 he became a professor at the École d’Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, in Paris, and from there he became one of the pioneers of the theory of sustainable development. He has always maintained a very close relationship with Brazil, having created a Study Group on Contemporary Brazil at the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme.