Emil Sax
Life and Work
- 8. Februar 1845
- 25. März 1927
- Generation 2
Stations
- 1845Birth
Born on 8 February 1845 in Jauernig (Austrian Silesia, today Javorník-Janský Vrch in the Czech Republic), into a family of clothmakers and officials.[1]
- 1867Secretary of the Austrian commission at the Paris World Exposition
Secretary of the Austrian commission at the 1867 Paris World Exposition.[1]
- 1870Habilitation at the Vienna Polytechnic
Habilitation as a Privatdozent in selected areas of political economy at the Polytechnic Institute in Vienna.[1]
- 1870–1873Secretary, Vienna Chamber of Commerce and Trade
Worked as secretary of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce and Trade.[1]
- 1874Privatdozent, University of Vienna
Habilitation as a Privatdozent in economics and public finance at the University of Vienna.[1]
- 1874–1879Secretary, Kaiser Ferdinand Northern Railway
Secretary in the administration of the Kaiser Ferdinand Northern Railway (about six years).[1]
- 1878–1879“Die Verkehrsmittel in Volks- und Staatswirtschaft” (The Means of Transport in National and State Economy)
Publication of the two-volume work “Die Verkehrsmittel in Volks- und Staatswirtschaft” (The Means of Transport in National and State Economy).[1]
- 1879Associate Professor, Prague
Associate professor at the German Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague.[1]
- 1880Full Professor, Prague
Full professor of political economy at the German Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague.[1]
- 1887*Grundlegung der Theoretischen Staatswirthschaft* (Foundations of Theoretical Public Economics)
Publication of one of his principal works, in which Sax set out his independent position within the Austrian School and applied the law of value to economic action on any scale.
- 1888–1889Professorship in Prague
As a professor in Prague, Sax began to support and further develop the subjectivist theory of value and methodological individualism.[1]
- 1892–1893Rector, University of Prague
Rector of the German Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague during the 1892/93 academic year.[1]
- 1893Break with the Austrian School— inferred
A few years later, Sax distanced himself from the Austrian School and, disappointed, withdrew from university life.
- 1893Early retirement
Gave up teaching owing to increasing hearing loss; withdrew from university life.[1]
- 1916“Der Kapitalzins” (Interest on Capital)
Publication of “Der Kapitalzins” (Interest on Capital); evidence of the productive literary output he developed in the last decade of his life.[1]
- 1917Resumption of Research— inferred
After a pause of almost twenty years, Sax took up his research again and, in the last decade of his life, developed an unusually productive literary output.
Influences
- 1894
In 1894 he became, as Emil Sax's successor, associate professor at the German University in Prague.
- —
Bevor Sax sich Menger anschloss, war er „mehr dessen Konkurrent als dessen Mitstreiter“ in der österreichischen Nationalökonomie; später wurde er zum Mitstreiter im Methodenstreit, grenzte sich aber wenige Jahre nach 1887 von der Wiener Schule wieder ab.
- —
In the history-of-economic-thought literature on the Viennese theory of taxation, he is treated, together with Emil Sax, as one of the two outstanding Austrian theorists of taxation; both developed in parallel a public finance grounded in marginal utility.[2]
Emil Sax in the context of the School as a whole: five generations, their teacher-student lineages, circles and collegial ties.
Show in the family tree →SOURCES ON STATIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS18 citations · 2 sources
Places of Activity
The Books
Essays, Reviews, Lectures
- APA
- Emil Sax. (n.d.). Edited by mises.at and scholarium. Accessed July 14, 2026, from https://mises.at/en/denker/emil-sax
- Chicago
- “Emil Sax.” n.d. Edited by mises.at and scholarium. Accessed July 14, 2026. https://mises.at/en/denker/emil-sax.
- German historical style
- Emil Sax, edited by mises.at and scholarium, https://mises.at/en/denker/emil-sax (accessed July 14, 2026).