FOLIO I · THINKER · GEN. 02 · N° 036

Franz Cuhel

Works
1
Articles
0
Generation
2.
Portrait of Franz Cuhel
FOL. 02 · N° 036 · Franz Cuhel
BIOGRAPHY

Life and Work

Franz Cuhel, who came from the Moravian town of Oels (today Olešnice, Czech Republic), was a specialist writer associated with the Menger circle and is largely forgotten today. A jurist and imperial-royal government councillor in Vienna, he built one of the first calculating machines and published an extensive work, Zur Lehre von den Bedürfnissen (1907; On the Theory of Needs), in which he defined 29 categories of needs (with a total of 73 further subdivisions). In it he was also the first to show that subjective utility cannot be measured and therefore cannot be calculated. In his Czech homeland, at the Prague University of Economics, the Franz Cuhel Memorial Lecture at the annual Prague Conference on Political Economy is named after him.
Metadata
Born
1. Januar 1862
in Oels, Mähren
Died
3. Dezember 1914
in Wien
Generation
Generation 2
Life stations

Stations

  1. 1862
    1862
    Birth · Oels
    Birth

    Born in 1862 in Oels in Moravia (today Olešnice, Czech Republic).[1]

  2. 1878
    1878
    School · Brünn
    Gymnasium, Brünn— inferred

    Attended the Gymnasium in Brünn (today Brno) in the late 1870s.[1]

  3. 1886
    1886
    Doctorate · Wien / Prag
    Doctorate in Law— approximate

    Studied law at the universities of Vienna and Prague and earned his doctorate in 1886.[1]

  4. 1889
    1889
    Career · Prag
    Joining the Prague Chamber of Commerce— approximate

    Joined the Prague Chamber of Commerce in 1889 as an official (Konzipist, a junior administrative rank).[1]

  5. 1894
    1894
    Career · Prag
    Vice-Secretary, Prague Chamber of Commerce— approximate

    Promoted to vice-secretary of the Prague Chamber of Commerce in 1894.[1]

  6. 1898
    1898
    Career · Prag
    Second Secretary, Prague Chamber of Commerce— approximate

    Promoted to second secretary of the Prague Chamber of Commerce in 1898.[1]

  7. 1900
    1900
    Career · Wien
    k. k. Regierungsrat in Vienna— inferred

    Worked as a jurist and k. k. Regierungsrat (Imperial-Royal government counsellor) in Vienna and built one of the first calculating machines.

  8. 1903
    1903
    Relocation · Olešnice (Oels)
    Early retirement— approximate

    Had to take early retirement in 1903 because of an illness and returned to Olešnice; later moved back to Vienna.[1]

  9. 1907
    1907
    Publication
    "Zur Lehre von den Bedürfnissen" (On the Theory of Needs)

    Published the extensive work "Zur Lehre von den Bedürfnissen" (On the Theory of Needs; 1907), in which he defined 29 categories of needs and demonstrated for the first time that subjective utility is not measurable.[1]

  10. 1914
    1914
    Death · Wien
    Death

    Died on 3 December 1914 in Vienna.[1]

Relationships

Influences

Influenced · 1
  1. —
    —
    Academic influence
    Lionel Robbins⁦(1898–1984)⁩ · LSE

    Cuhels Bedürfnistheorie wird laut Liberpedia von Lionel Robbins rezipiert (Ordinalnutzentheorie-Linie).[1]

Franz Cuhel 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 RELATIONSHIPS10 citations · 1 source
Andere· 1
Topography

Places of Activity

CATALOGUE OF WORKS · CHRONOLOGICAL

The Books

1900s
1907
45 yrs.
Zur Lehre von den Bedürfnissen: Theoretische Untersuchungen über das Grenzgebiet der Ökonomik und Psychologie
Book
OriginalGerman
Cite this page

Three copy-ready formats with the canonical URL and access date.

APA
Franz Cuhel. (n.d.). Edited by mises.at and scholarium. Accessed July 20, 2026, from https://mises.at/en/denker/franz-cuhel
Chicago
“Franz Cuhel.” n.d. Edited by mises.at and scholarium. Accessed July 20, 2026. https://mises.at/en/denker/franz-cuhel.
German historical style
Franz Cuhel, edited by mises.at and scholarium, https://mises.at/en/denker/franz-cuhel (accessed July 20, 2026).