Alexandre Lamfalussy, a Hungarian-born economist and banker considered a founding father of the euro, died on 9th April 2015, in Ottignies, Belgium. He was 86. Mr. Lamfalussy was the founding president of the European Monetary Institute, which later became the European Central Bank and which now oversees the eurozone monetary system.
As president of the institute, Mr. Lamfalussy assembled the core of the multinational staff that started the common currency, and he gave the euro much of its intellectual underpinnings. He helped devise the rules on debt and spending that govern membership in the eurozone and was even involved in designing the bank notes.
Always Seek Knowledge:
About Alexandre Lamfalussy
- Mr. Lamfalussy was born on April 26, 1929, in Kapuvar, a village in Hungary.
- He spent his childhood in Lenti.
- Mr. Lamfalussy e studied economics at the University of Louvain, Belgium.
- He later earned a doctorate from Nuffield College at Oxford and taught at Yale University in 1961-62.
- While studying for his doctorate, Mr. Lamfalussy began work as an economist for the Banque de Bruxelles, a commercial bank in Belgium that has since been absorbed by ING Group.
- He rose to become chairman of the executive board but resigned in 1975 after taking responsibility for a large loss in foreign exchange trading.
Nuts and bolts of Belgium
- Capital: Brussels
- Currency: Euro
- Largest City: Brussels
- Official Language: Dutch, German, French
