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Finding Aid to the Gerard Debreu Papers, 1949-2001
BANC MSS 2006/218
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Table of contents
Collection Title: Gerard Debreu papers
Date (inclusive): 1949-2001
Collection Number: BANC MSS 2006/218
Creators :
Debreu, Gerard
Extent:
Number of containers: 1 box, 23 cartons
Linear feet: 29
Repository: The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Abstract: The Gerard Debreu papers, 1949-2001, consist of correspondence; professional
activities, which include research notes, writing and editorial work, visiting scholar appointments, and
speeches; organizational files; course notes; a small amount of papers pertaining to Debreu winning the Nobel
Prize; and Debreu reprints.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English and French
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice
may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the
Library's online catalog.
Collection is open for research.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in
writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000.
Consent is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to
include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright
owner. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is
restricted to research and educational purposes.
[Identification of item], Gerard Debreu Papers, BANC MSS 2006/218, The Bancroft Library, University of
California, Berkeley.
There are no alternate forms of this collection.
Photographs have been transferred to the Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library. BANC PIC 2007.011-FR.
Objects have been transferred to the Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library. BANC PIC
19xx.031:158-159-OBJ. Printed materials have been transferred to the book collection of The Bancroft
Library.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public
access catalog.
Debreu, Gerard--Archives
University of California, Berkeley. Dept. of
Economics
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.). Committee on
Human Rights
Nobel Prize winners--United States
Economics, Mathematical
Faculty papers
The Gerard Debreu Papers were given to The Bancroft Library by Francoise Debreu on September 26, 2006.
No additions are expected.
Arranged to the container level.
Processed by the Bancroft Library staff in 2007.
Gerard Debreu was born in Calais, France on July 4, 1921. As a young man he pursued studies in mathematics
until 1944, when after D-day he enlisted in the French army. After briefly serving in the French occupational
forces in Germany he resumed his studies and shifted his focus to Economics.
In 1948 Debreu came to the United States on a Rockefeller Scholarship. In 1950 he began working at the Cowles
Commission for Research in Economics at the University of Chicago. He moved to Yale University from 1955 to
1959, then Stanford University's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in 1960 and 1961. Early in
1962 he became a member of Berkeley's Economics faculty, and his Nobel Prize of 1983 was the first of a string
of four Nobel Prizes won by Berkeley Economics professors. He retired in 1991, but he continued his teaching and
research activities for several years.
Debreu became an American citizen in 1975. He was also noted for his interest in human rights. He joined a
fact-finding mission to Chile on behalf of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Human Rights, which
focused on scientists believed to be unlawfully detained, in 1985.
Debreu passed away in Paris on December 31, 2004
Scope and Content of Collection
The Gerard Debreu papers, 1949-2001, consist of correspondence; professional activities, which include research
notes, writing and editorial work, visiting scholar appointments, and speeches; organizational files; course
notes; a small amount of papers pertaining to Debreu winning the Nobel Prize; and Debreu reprints.
Most of the correspondence is professional in nature, concerning Debreu's teaching, writing and research
activities. Topic-related correspondence is also interfiled throughout the rest of the collection. Professional
activities primarily focus on Debreu's non-teaching work. The organizational files contain information on the
organizations to which Debreu belonged, committee details, correspondence, and meeting minutes. Of note in this
series are Debreu's membership in the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Human Rights. The Nobel
Prize-related papers include some correspondence and photographs.