![]() | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (August 2015) |
Silvio Gesell | |
---|---|
![]() Gesell in 1895 | |
Born | |
Died | 11 March 1930 | (aged 67)
Nationality | German |
Academic career | |
Field | Monetary theory, monetary and land reform |
School or tradition | |
Influences | Theodor Hertzka Henry George Pierre Joseph Proudhon |
Johann Silvio Gesell (German: [ɡəˈzɛl]; 17 March 1862 – 11 March 1930) was a German-Argentine economist, merchant, and the founder of Freiwirtschaft, an economic model for market socialism.[1] In 1900 he founded the magazine Geld-und Bodenreform (Monetary and Land Reform), but it soon closed for financial reasons. During one of his stays in Argentina, where he lived in a vegetarian commune, Gesell started the magazine Der Physiokrat together with Georg Blumenthal. In 1914, it closed due to censorship.
The Bavarian Soviet Republic, in which he participated, had a violent end and Gesell was detained for several months on a charge of treason, but was acquitted by a Munich court after a speech he gave in his own defense.