Léonard Rist

Who is Léonard Rist?

Léonard Rist was a French economist and banker.

He was the son of Charles Rist, the economist. Working in America he returned to France to enlist in 1939. He was imprisoned by the Nazi forces following the German occupation of France in the summer of 1940, and spent 18 months in prison camps in Silesia and Sudetenland. The bankers of the House of Morgan, where Rist was employed, managed to get him out.

After the war, Rist became the first chief economist of the World Bank. Rist held various positions at the World Bank for 20 years.